Supreme Court Sides with R.J. Reynolds in RICO Case

The New York Times reports that the Supreme Court sided with the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company earlier this week in a lawsuit filed by European countries accusing it of complicity in an international money laundering scheme. The court, by a 4-to-3 vote, found that the company could not be sued under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, over its conduct abroad. The case was brought by the European Union and 26 of its member states. They accused RJR Nabisco and several associated companies of being part of a sprawling cigarette smuggling enterprise that deprived them of billions of dollars in customs and tax revenues.