Gulf Coast law firms Levin Papantonio, Eastland Law and others have begun filing a series of civil RICO actions in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama to hold BP accountable for the false assurances it gave the American people that it could handle a worst-case scenario deepwater oil spill. The suits allege that BP committed mail fraud, wire fraud and potentially other RICO predicate act violations when the company sought permits from the federal government for deepwater offshore drilling, knowing that it did not possess the technical expertise or equipment necessary to respond to an emergency such as the ongoing Deepwater disaster.
This is the first time I can remember a 'civil RICO lawsuit'. This is a good thing. Maybe it'll work, although BuzzFlash commenters bring up some cons:
Do corporations actually get taken to court these days or can BP just ask to have it kicked upstairs to Attorney Generals and higher courts that they've paid off?
Whatever happens in lower courts the Supreme Court can be counted on to "fix" everything, cf: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/business/25norris.html?hp
Good point. America is a company-owned town, after all. We will see.
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