'Andy in the Archives:' RICO

For this week’s “Andy in the Archives” segment, we’re speaking with Andy Lanset, director of NYPR’s archives, about how the tobacco industry violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, also known as RICO, 20 years ago.

This is a follow up segment to last week's segment regarding Juul and other e-cigarette and vaping companies, including one lawsuit which alleges that Juul and Philip Morris violated RICO in how they marketed their products. We’re taking a look at how the 1999 case against big tobacco came to be, as well as a dive into exactly what RICO is and other ways that it’s been used.