Opinion ID: 580788
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Scope of Forfeiture

Text: 58 Although we will not characterize RICO forfeiture as a prior restraint, we do consider it necessary to tailor the scope of the forfeiture permitted by statute to alleviate constitutional concerns about curtailing legitimate speech in the name of fighting obscenity. While the authorization of a forfeiture does not by itself render the RICO statute unconstitutional, to the extent section 1963 mandates forfeiture of more property than the Constitution will tolerate as punishment for an obscenity offense, the statute is unconstitutional on its face. 59 As noted earlier, the scope of RICO forfeiture is extremely broad, reaching nearly every asset remotely connected with the offense. [F]orfeiture is not limited to those assets of a RICO enterprise that are tainted by use in connection with racketeering activity, but rather extends to the convicted person's entire interest in the enterprise. United States v. Busher, 817 F.2d 1409, 1413 (9th Cir.1987). We have already observed that RICO's breadth and inflexibility counsel[ ] caution, for no penalty is per se constitutional. Id. at 1414 (quotation omitted); cf. Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the N.Y. State Crime Victims Bd., --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 501, 511-12, 116 L.Ed.2d 476 (1991) (statute designed to deprive convicted criminals of profits and proceeds from publicizing their crimes not sufficiently tailored to survive First Amendment scrutiny). 60 For purposes of comparison, a number of other obscenity statutes contain markedly less drastic forfeiture provisions than federal RICO does. Illinois's obscenity statute permits forfeiture only of the direct and indirect proceeds of obscenity violations and the assets used wholly or in part to subsidize the actual criminal conduct. See Sequoia Books, 901 F.2d at 632; see also id. at 637-38 (comparing the scope of forfeiture permitted by Illinois law and by federal RICO). The federal Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act likewise limits forfeitures to (i) the obscene materials themselves, (ii) property constituting or traceable to the gross profits or proceeds obtained from the offense, and (iii) property actually used or intended to be used to commit or to promote the offense. 18 U.S.C. §§ 1466(a), 2253(a); cf. Fort Wayne Books, 489 U.S. at 65, 109 S.Ct. at 928 ([W]e assume without deciding that bookstores and their contents are forfeitable ... when it is proved that these items are property actually used in, or derived from, a pattern of violations of ... obscenity laws.) (emphasis added). 8 61 The Supreme Court, in the past, has recognized the need to tailor criminal rules narrowly and carefully when they seek to operate within the First Amendment arena. Our decisions furnish examples of legal devices and doctrines in most applications consistent with the Constitution, which cannot be applied in settings where they have the collateral effect of inhibiting the freedom of expression, by making the individual the more reluctant to exercise it. Smith, 361 U.S. at 150-51, 80 S.Ct. at 217 (citing examples); see also Simon & Schuster, 112 S.Ct. at 512 (New York's Son of Sam law held to be inconsistent with the First Amendment because not narrowly tailored to achieve goal of compensating victims from the fruits of the crime); Quantity of Books, 378 U.S. at 211-12, 84 S.Ct. at 1726-27 (state may not treat ordinary contraband and obscene books the same for purposes of seizure because of the First Amendment concerns infusing the latter); accord Speiser v. Randall, 357 U.S. 513, 525, 78 S.Ct. 1332, 1342, 2 L.Ed.2d 1460 (1958) (The separation of legitimate from illegitimate speech calls for ... sensitive tools....) 62 In light of these precedents, the current breadth of RICO's forfeiture provision cannot pass constitutional muster. At the very least, those assets or interests of the defendant invested in legitimate expressive activity being conducted by parts of the enterprise uninvolved or only marginally involved in the racketeering activity may not be forfeited. As in Busher, district courts should not, absent exceptional circumstances, order forfeiture of a defendant's entire interest in an enterprise that is essentially legitimate where he has committed relatively minor RICO [obscenity] violations not central to the conduct of the business and resulting in relatively little illegal gain in proportion to its size and legitimate income. 817 F.2d at 1415-16. Because Adult Video raises only a facial attack, we leave for the district courts the specific formulation of RICO forfeiture orders that are consistent with the First Amendment, in light of the particular facts presented in individual cases. Cf. id. 63 The government no doubt believes that diminishing the scope of RICO forfeiture in this manner will dilute the statute's deterrent effect and risk a resurrection of the criminal enterprise. While these are important concerns, the incremental contribution that RICO's current sweeping forfeiture provisions make to the deterrence and destruction of criminal enterprises over what would be accomplished under a narrower definition of forfeitable assets does not justify the additional curtailment of constitutionally protected, sexually explicit speech. See Simon & Schuster, 112 S.Ct. at 509 ([W]e have long recognized that even regulations aimed at proper governmental concerns can restrict unduly the exercise of rights protected by the First Amendment.) (quoting Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Comm'r of Revenue, 460 U.S. 575, 592, 103 S.Ct. 1365, 1376, 75 L.Ed.2d 295 (1983)). Tailoring the scope of forfeiture acknowledges that in obscenity cases, unlike traditional RICO prosecutions, a countervailing concern for protecting the public's right to receive, as well as the defendant's right to engage in, non-obscene speech demands a more delicate approach to forfeitures. See Marcus, 367 U.S. at 736, 81 S.Ct. at 1719 (expressing concern for the public's opportunity to obtain ... publications because the state's obscenity seizure law deterred the sale and distribution of speech falling under the First Amendment's aegis). The forfeiture of assets derived from drugs, arson, fraud, and murder rarely, if ever, implicates a public right of access to information. The forfeiture of assets loosely affiliated with obscenity offenses, by contrast, hurts not just the defendant, but also those members of the public who wish to obtain sexually explicit and erotic videotapes. Government is not free to adopt whatever procedures it pleases for dealing with obscenity ... without regard to the possible consequences for constitutionally protected speech. Id. at 731, 81 S.Ct. at 1716; see also Smith, 361 U.S. at 154, 80 S.Ct. 215, 219 (strict liability provision in obscenity statute unconstitutional because it would restrict the public's access to forms of the printed word which the State could not constitutionally suppress directly). 64 In sum, we hold that RICO's provisions permitting the pre-trial preservation of assets for forfeiture are not facially unconstitutional in obscenity cases. Only that part of section 1963(d) that authorizes pre-trial seizures of obscene materials on the basis of probable cause is unconstitutional. Post-trial forfeitures do not, on their face, amount to prior restraints. We find it necessary, however, to tailor the scope of RICO forfeitures in obscenity cases in order to conform the statute to the dictates of the First Amendment. So delineated, RICO's post-trial forfeiture provisions are not facially unconstitutional.