The First Real Glimpse of Organized Crime - Essay Example

Running head: ORGANIZED CRIME: HOW IT EFFECTS THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM Organized Crime: How it Effect's the Judicial System Insert Insert Affiliation: Table of Contents I) Introduction Hypothesis II) Discussion III) Analysis IV) Conclusion Introduction The first real glimpse of organized crime that became apparent in America was in 1931, when prohibition was coming to a close. It was Al Capone and his mafia family plus affiliates close to him that truly made American people aware of how deep organized crime actually was and still is, in the United States. The reform movements that occurred in the 30's turned up multitudes of criminal conspiracies, which linked gangsters, politicians, and police (Schatzberg et al 1994, p.1). Now, as law enforcement and the judicial system, plus society as a whole, look back on that era and compare it to today, there is found to be such a wealth of socioeconomic factors in favor of harboring and encouraging a steadfast existence of organized crime within the country. It is the public's demand for items that are of illegal character and the many ambivalent attitudes that allow organized crime to find a well founded home in American society. Astonishingly enough, every ethnicity at some point has been involved with organized crime. As in the thirties it was the Irish gangsters battling for dominance among the Capone family, and from there the Jews controlling criminal activity in vice areas, within the time era of the 60's. It would seem that the identity of organized crime is of a caliber that continues to have a long line of successor's in every ethnicity of America (Schatzberg et al 1994, p.2). There is no question that organized crime families have been the primary objective of federal bodies, to bring their crime sprees to a final curtain call. Through these investigatory bodies, commissions, and federal agencies working together, they have employed a strict body of crucial law enforcement to fight these criminal activities. Through these united forces, the objective to finally cripple organized crime might stand a better chance than it did 50 years ago. There are some people in America who have no idea of what the true nature and meaning of organized crime is. Organized crime can not logically be compared to street crime or an out of character violent act. The sustenance in behind these types of criminal activities involves huge enterprises sometimes, and can reach out to corrupt anything it touches without any awareness being made it is even happening. The fact is, those in organized crime believe themselves to be above the law and perceive themselves safe from the legal system simply because it might have its hooks in lawyers, and supreme judges whom syndicate leaders believe can shelter them from prosecution (Schatzberg et al 1994, p.21). Organized Crime has had a historic presence in America for decades now. Its corruption reaches its tendrils of crime and violence everywhere and causes the law enforcement and judicial processes to work triple time just to contain it. Between the Justice Dept, Congressional Hearings, and Presidential Commissions, what has actually taken place to fight organized crime and what effect has it had on the whole structure of the judicial system Will organized crime ever be fully measured and abated Without a clear idea of what organized crime is how can America even approach it Hypothesis In order to fully combat organized crime, every legal resource should be readily available and every segment of the legal system should be utilized to the fullest extent possible. There has to be a legal structure established to define organized crime. For example: When a crime takes place and the individual responsible for that crime is convicted, there must be some way of distinguishing whether the particular offense was related to other organized criminal activities. One implementation that has occurred due to the adversity organized crime poses is the, 'Corrupt Organizations Act' which was initially phased in to offer support for the case law within Federal Racketeering. Both of these influential perceptions, as investigatory and protocol procedures, offer assistance to law enforcement officials in determining organized crime Enterprises (Schatzberg et al 1994, p.22). The purpose for defining organized crime is pertinent in order to be able to justify the use of more adverse means so that a thorough investigation and following trial can occur. Before any of the actual pursuit of organized crime can be carried out properly though, the hypothetical question must be able to be asked and answered in order to understand the full ramifications involved with organized crime. So the hypothesis here is, is organized crime just a phenomenon, or is there actual proof of its existence Unfortunately, it takes a leap of faith in the legal system to truly uncover remnants of organized crime, but history does not lie, this type of illegal activity does exist, so within the past lies the answer to the question. Theorists of criminal law are the ones who can best decipher between the manifestations of organized crime and regular criminal activity. The main objective that law enforcement must keep at the forefront of the mind is how to approach organized crime by first finding the source and then eradicating it to the fullest extent the judicial system can allow. But, there in lies the problem, it is not so easy to uncover the bigger issue of what initially lead to the whole organized crime structure. Discussion To deter and contain organized crime in 1970 and for in the future as well, 'The Organized Crime Control Act' was passed (Abdul-Monem 2003, p.1). From this was born the witness Security Program, of which, the main priority is to sway those have inside knowledge of organized crime to testify in a guarantee of protection from adversity by the mafia. The way the WITSEC goes about offering protection is through relocating the individual to what is commonly known as a 'safe house' where only a select few would have knowledge of the witnesses where abouts. By offering this protection to key witnesses the WITSEC plays a crucial role because without this program, district attorneys would not have an inept way of gathering incriminating evidence against heads of organized crime syndicates. Since this programs initiation into the judicial system, over 9000 family members have participated in this program (Abdel-Monem 2003, p.1). However, though this program can be beneficial in leading to collapses of big time organized crime families, it has many drawbacks. Approximately 15% of those involved with the program to testify against those of organized crimes quite often have criminal records themselves. This leads to other types of crime by these specific witnesses, if they themselves are allowed to go free. Because of this, Congress revised the program in 1984. "The reform act requires the Attorney General the right to terminate an individual's participation if he fails to disclose information about any legal obligations he might have" (Abdel-Monem 2003, p.1). Also, the participant has to agree to not commit crimes or to attempt to avoid his legal responsibilities after receiving a new identity and being allowed to re-enter the community. Even though this program has faced some ridicule, its purpose in the judicial system is more of a positive influence than anything negative. Organized Crime is affiliated with quite a substantial amount of illicit activities and therefore is very hard to try and control much less dispose of altogether. Some of these illegal actions involve the activities of: Economies of scale and exploitation of monopolistic prices on the supply of illegal goods and services Practice of violence against another legal or illegal business Criminal hierarchy with intermediation of negative externalities and management of portfolio of risky activities Avoidance of resource dissipation through competitive lobbying and corruption Easier access to markets Racketeering Theft fence rings (Garoupa 2000, p.279). From the literature, it is quite plausible to see that organized crime takes on the characterization of many different forms of illegal activity. The ones that have been listed are only a slight few. Analysis The Criminal Justice System has found that there needs to be definite organized structure within its organization in order to facilitate a means of controlling organized crime. Therefore, the following outline demonstrates what has been established within the legal guidelines of the Criminal Justice System. A political stance must be made to undertake all strategic measures to combat organized crime The determination of all legal bodies, working closely together will bring strength to the fight against organized crime and reinforce cooperation along with establishing legal assistance Preventive measures will be implemented wherever deemed most pertinently needed. This will be done by offering educational public programs and an educational awareness. There will also be a guaranteed commitment from legal officials to protect and assist victims of organized crime Financial resources will be put to use to provide technical and financial assistance to various federal and public bodies combating organized crime. Also action will be taken to prevent further corruption by utilizing comprehensive measures ( Presidents & Prime Ministers 2000, p.1). Further more; law enforcement in this century is facing serious challenges in the continuing battle of organized crime. Not only is the concern for the particulars of familiar organized crime, but international as well. This era has experienced far more acts of organized crime than any decade previously. This is due, in a large part, to the fact that this type of crime is widespread and has no specific jurisdiction (Ohr 2005). Therefore, the United States International Law Policy has increased its legal berth in order to combat transnational criminals of organized crime as well as those that do not leave United States borders. There have been many ways developed to be able to gather substantial evidence while legal assistance treaties have been made to become more inclusive (Ohr 2005). Foreign Governments now work alongside the United States Government in order to deter and prosecute any organized crimes that enter upon various other countries as well as their own lands. Electronic Surveillance is another new technology that now is utilized to its full potential in gathering information on crime rings internationally and in the homeland. However, there can be legitimate issues in regard to a person's right to privacy and this type of investigative equipment. Furthermore, in order for law officials to use this surveillance, they have to submit an affidavit to a United States district court Judge and then show probably cause to necessitate the need for its use. Undercover operations are often carried out as well, in order to develop a trust with the criminals. After a period of time it becomes easy for the undercover agents to learn more about the organized crime ring, through gaining the confidence of the offending individuals. This does have its drawbacks as well, simply due to the threat it poses to the undercover agents and also the corruption they are exposed to can even lure them into the crime web ring deeper. Quite often, between the approved surveillance, and undercover operation, law enforcement can bust an organized crime ring and prosecute to the fullest extent possible. This is the main goal of every organized crime case, to convict the highest levels of crime organizations (Orh 2005). The strongest law the Criminal Justice System carries in the United States is 'The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute'. This places heavy penalties, including life imprisonment in some cases. With the use of the RCIO and other, newer implementations in the Criminal Justice System, organized crime has been maintained at a minimal level for a number of years now. Conclusion In conclusion, it is acknowledged that activities of organized crime have been ones of major concern for the Federal Government for decades now. To make matters more stressful, there is now the additional concern of transnational crime rings. The damage from this type of criminal activity, to the whole of society, as well as to labor unions, political institutions, financial markets, and major industries is beyond mental calculations (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2005). In order for the FBI and other law enforcement officials to continue to beat the rapidly increasing rate of crime rings, such as ones that have been discussed, the strictest of protocol has to be followed and carried out. In finalization of this research, the bulleted strategic procedures give validation as to how organized crime can be blotted out permanently. Employ a methodology that will yield a maximum impact utilizing organized crime resources Law Enforcement must pursue those who have direct ties to national and international criminal enterprises and dismantle them They must be flexible enough to pursue regional organized crime groups (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2005) Finally, Federal bodies of law must guarantee, to the public, that they can permanently disrupt the actions of organized crime if there is ever going to be a sense of complete safety within the country. Works Cited 1. Abdel-Monem, Tarek (2003) 'Foreign Nationals in the United States Witness Security Program: A Remedy for Every Wrong' American Criminal Law Review Vol.40 2. Federal Bureau of Investigation (2005) 'Organized Crime' Accessed at: http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/orgcrime/ocshome.htm Retrieved 10 December 2005 3. Garoupa, Nuno (2000) 'The Economics of Organized Crime and Optimal Law Enforcement' Economy Inquiry, Vol.38 4. Ohr, Bruce (2005) 'Effective Methods to Combat Transnational Organized Crime in Criminal Justice Processes' Retrieved from: http://wwwunafei.or.jp/english/pdf/PDF_rms/no58/58-05.pdf 5. Presidents & Prime Minister (2000) 'Fighting Organized Crime' Vol. 9 6. Schaterberg, Rufus & Kelly, Robert & Ko, Lin-Chin (1994) 'Handbook of Organized Crime in the United States' Greenwood Press, Westport CT Read More