90 Organizations Tell AG Carr: Drop Cop City RICO Charges!
www.rightsanddissent.org
On September 5, 2023, the Georgia Attorney General’s office handed down an indictment of 61 Stop Cop City protesters, organizers, and 2020 racial justice advocates. The indictment alleges a conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

90 organizations have sent a letter to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr urging his office to drop the RCIO charges against Stop Cop City protesters.

  • markstos@lemmy.world
    360·
    1 year ago

    I wonder what these folks think of the use of RICO to charge Trump and associates.

    • ZaktorEnglish
      86·
      1 year ago

      Applying criminal conspiracy laws correctly is good and incorrectly is bad. Pretty easy.

      • chaogomu@kbin.social
        522·
        1 year ago

        Honestly, Georgia RICO is a mess of a law, and likely unconstitutional.

        While the Georgia indictment is the most satisfying to read, it’s also the weakest of the four, structurally speaking. There are a lot of serious charges in there, but there’s also a lot of fluff that a more polished indictment would not include.

        Jack Smith’s two indictments are probably the gold standard for streamlined and bulletproof cases. Fani Willis’ indictment, on the other hand… well, it’s a bit of a mess.

        I’ll put it this way. If Trump is convicted on all charges in all cases, the conviction in DC and Florida would have very little room for appeal, the one in Georgia would have a fairly decent chance of being thrown out, or at least being sent back for a second trial, minus a bunch of charges.

        All that said. Yeah. I think the RICO charge for Trump in Georgia is wrong. Trump would not qualify for federal RICO, and Georgia should have a standard higher than “Two or more people who talked about a crime before (or while) committing the crime”.

        • Maeve@kbin.social
          32·
          1 year ago

          I can see it both ways, and you’re not wrong, if the entire legal apparatus was honest and also not of several tiers. Tbf our whole legal system everywhere is a mess and it’s beginning to seem intentional.

          • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
            14·
            1 year ago

            Laws in GA are a mess because conservatives have had such a heavy influence in their creation. Conservative legislators tend to craft laws to harm vulnerable groups or enemies, whereas normal legislators tend to craft laws to achieve peace and order in some fashion. As such, states with historically conservative legislatures (like Georgia) are notorious for poorly crafted laws. The D.A.'s have to work with what they are given.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
      12·
      1 year ago

      Probably overkill because the guy is literally on tape pressuring election officials, and that should’ve been enough evidence.