Organized Crime Control Act of 1970

The Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 91–452, 84 Stat. 922 October 15, 1970), was an Act of Congress sponsored by Democratic Senator John L. McClellan^[1] and signed into law by U.S. President Richard Nixon.

Organized Crime Control Act of 1970

Other short titles	Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Long title	An Act relating to the control of organized crime in the United States.
Acronyms (colloquial)	OCCA RICO
Nicknames	Organized Crime Control Act of 1970
Enacted by	the 91st United States Congress
Effective	October 15, 1970
Citations
Public law	91-452
Statutes at Large	84 Stat. 922-3
Codification
Titles amended	18 U.S.C.: Crimes and Criminal Procedure
U.S.C. sections created	18 U.S.C. ch. 73 §§ 1501-1510 18 U.S.C. ch. 79 § 1621 et seq. 18 U.S.C. ch. 95 §§ 1951-1954 18 U.S.C. ch. 96 §§ 1961-1968 18 U.S.C. ch. 216 § 3331 et seq. 18 U.S.C. ch. 223 §§ 3481-3502 18 U.S.C. ch. 601 § 6001 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 30 by John L. McClellan (D–AR) Passed the Senate on January 23, 1970 (74-1) Passed the House on October 7, 1970 (341-26) Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on October 15, 1970

The Act was the product of two sets of hearings in the Senate, the Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management hearings of 1957-1959 and the McClellan hearings of 1962-1964.

The Act prohibits the creation or management of a gambling organization involving five or more people if it has been in business more than 30 days or accumulates $2,000 in gross revenue in a single day. It also gave grand juries new powers, permitted detention of unmanageable witnesses, and gave the U.S. Attorney General authorization to protect witnesses, both state and federal, and their families.^[2] This last measure helped lead to the creation of WITSEC, an acronym for witness security.

Title IX of the Act created the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.^[3]

It is not to be confused with New York's Organized Crime Control Act of 1986, which is also called OCCA and is sometimes referred to as "Little RICO" or "Baby RICO".^[4]

References

1. Williams, Nancy A. and Whayne, Jeannie M. Arkansas Biography: A Collection of Notable Lives. Little Rock, Ark.: University of Arkansas Press, 2000. ISBN 1-55728-587-X
2. Kelly, Robert J.; Chin, Ko-lin; and Schatzberg, Rufus. Handbook of Organized Crime in the United States. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994. ISBN 0-313-28366-4
3. Levy, Leonard Williams. A License to Steal: The Forfeiture of Property. Chapel Hill, N.C.: UNC Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8078-2242-6; Batista, Paul A. Civil RICO Practice Manual. 3rd ed. New York: Aspen Publishers, 2007. ISBN 0-7355-6782-4
4. Steven L. Kessler (Fall 1990). "And a Little Child Shall Lead Them: New York's Organized Crime Control Act of 1986 Control Act of 1986". St. John's Law Review. St. John's. 64. Retrieved May 29, 2021.