It shall be unlawful for any person through a pattern of racketeering activity or through collection of an unlawful debt to acquire or maintain, directly or indirectly, any interest in or control of any enterprise which is engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce.

 
It shall be unlawful for any person employed by or associated with any enterprise engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce, to conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity or collection of unlawful debt.

 
It shall be unlawful for any person to conspire to violate any of the provisions of subsections (a), (b) or (c) of this section.

 
the wrongful use of actual and threatened force, violence and fear of physical and economic injury in order to create within Local 560 a climate of intimidation which induced the members thereof to consent to the surrender of certain valuable property in the form of their union  [*271]  rights as guaranteed by the provisions of Sections 157 and 411 of Title 29 of the United States Code [the Taft-Hartley Act, 29 U.S.C. § 157 and the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. § 411].

 
(1) the June 1961 murder of Anthony Castellitto; (2) the August 1961 appointment of Salvatore Provenzano to the position of Trustee formerly occupied by Castellitto; (3) the September 1961 appointment of Salvatore Briguglio -- the alleged murderer of Castellitto -- to the position of Business Agent; (4) the February 1963 appointment of Nunzio Provenzano to the position of Business Agent following his January 1963 conviction for extortion; (5) the May 1963 murder of Walter Glockner; (6) the 1964 appointment of Robert A. Luizzi to the position of Business Agent in spite of a record of criminal convictions; (7) the May 1967 appointment of Luizzi to the position of Trustee; (8) the February 1969 appointment of Salvatore Briguglio to position of Business Agent following completion of a term of imprisonment for extortion; (10) the 1970 appointment of Nunzio Provenzano to the position of Business Agent; (11) the 1971 appointment of Thomas Reynolds, Sr. to the position of Business Agent in spite of a record of criminal activity; (12) the 1972 appointment of Nunzio Provenzano to the position of Fund Trustee;  [**7]  (13) the 1972 appointment of Salvatore Briguglio to the position of Fund Trustee; (14) the allowance of frequent visitations by Armand Faugno and Thomas Andretta to the offices of Local 560; (15) the January 1963 appointment of Nunzio Provenzano to the position of Secretary-Treasurer; (16) the 1973 appointment of Reynolds to the position of Fund Trustee; (17) the 1974 resumption of duties as Business Agent by Salvatore Briguglio following completion of a term of imprisonment for counterfeiting; (18) the 1974 appointment of Luizzi to the position of Fund Trustee; (19) the November 1975 appointments of Anthony and Nunzio Provenzano to the positions of Secretary-Treasurer and President, respectively, in spite of a record of convictions for extortion; (20) the February 1977 appointment of Reynolds to the position of Trustee; (21) the July 1978 appointment of Josephine Provenzano to the position of Secretary-Treasurer following Anthony Provenzano's conviction for the Castellitto murder; (22) the July 1981 appointment of Salvatore Provenzano to the position of President following Nunzio Provenzano's forced resignation as a condition of bail on a labor racketeering conviction; (23) the Executive  [**8]  Board's failure to recover monies wrongfully converted by Anthony Provenzano; (24) the retention of Marvin Zalk as Fund Administrator in spite of payments accepted by him from an insurance company representative during the 1950's; (25) the retention of Ralph Torraco as the Fund's independent certified public accountant in spite of his federal indictment for systematically overbilling the Fund; (26) the extortion of contributions to the defense funds of the Provenzanos and Michael Sciarra from union members; (27) the 1981 appointment of Luizzi to the position of Business Agent; and (28) associations by some of the defendants with Frank "Funzi" Tieri and Matteo Alfredo Ianniello, reputed to be organized crime members.

 
(1) the extortion of $17,000 from Walter Dorn and his company (Dorn Transport, Inc. of Rensselaer, New York), in return for "labor peace"; (2) the wrongful conversion by defendant Anthony Provenzano, aided and abetted by successive defendant members of the Local 560 Executive Board of approximately $223,785 in Local 560 funds "by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, and pursuant to a scheme and artifice to defraud. . .;" (3) the wrongful receipt by Provenzano Group members of payments, loans and other things of value from certain employers (Interocean Services, Inc. and Di-Jub Leasing, Inc.) in exchange for "labor peace"; (4) the unlawful receipt by defendant Anthony Provenzano, aided and abetted by Salvatore Briguglio, of certain fees, kickbacks, gifts or things of value in the form of certain Florida real estate because of, and with intent to be influenced with respect to, his actions and decisions relating to the Benefit Fund; and (5) the wrongful receipt by defendant Nunzio Provenzano, together  [**10]  with Irving Cotler and others, as associates of the Provenzano Group, of "labor peace" payments by certain employers, specifically Pacific Intermountain Express Company, Mason and Dixon Lines, Inc., T.I.M.E. -- DC, Inc. and Helms Express.

(1) Dorn: Between approximately January 1, 1952 and June 1, 1959, Anthony Provenzano (leader of the Provenzano Group), while an official of Local 560, extorted payoffs from Walter Dorn and his company, Dorn Transport, Inc., in exchange for "labor peace." Anthony Provenzano was subsequently convicted on one count of Hobbs Act extortion under 18 U.S.C. § 1957 for his part in the Dorn labor peace payoffs. App. at 24, 69.

(2) Castellitto: In 1961, Anthony Provenzano recruited Harold Konigsberg and Salvatore Briguglio to kill Anthony Castellitto, who was a popular member  [**15]  of Local 560 and who posed a threat to Anthony Provenzano's control of the union. On June 6, 1961, Konigsberg, Briguglio, Salvatore Sinno, and others, committed the murder. Salvatore Briguglio was killed while under indictment for the Castellitto murder, and on June 21, 1978, Anthony Provenzano was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the murder of Castellitto. App. at 24-25, 30, 70-71.

(3) Braun: Between November 30, 1961 and December 12, 1961, Nunzio Provenzano and Salvatore Briguglio attempted to extort labor peace payments (the Braun Payoff Demand case) from the Braun Company in violation of New York Penal Law § 560 and § 1294 (Conspiracy and attempted grand larceny). Nunzio Provenzano and Salvatore Briguglio were convicted and incarcerated for approximately 2-1/2 years in New York. App. at 25-26, 29, 69.

(4) Seatrain: Between December of 1969 and June of 1977, Anthony Provenzano, Stephen Andretta, Thomas Andretta,  [*274]  and Gabriel Briguglio unlawfully received "labor peace" payoffs from Interocean Services, Inc. and Di-Jub Leasing Inc. (Seatrain Labor Peace Payoffs) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 186(b). Anthony Provenzano and  [**16]  Thomas Andretta each received 20 years imprisonment for their part in the Seatrain payoffs, and Stephen Andretta and Gabriel Briguglio received 10 and 7 years imprisonment, respectively. App. at 22-23, 25, 28, 77.

(5) Romano: Between 1974 and 1977, Anthony Provenzano, aided and abetted by Salvatore Briguglio and Stephen Andretta, received kickbacks in connection with loans made by the union's Passaic and Bergen Funds to Thomas and Frank Romano in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1954. App. at 77-82.

(6) City-Man: Between January of 1971 and July of 1980, Nunzio Provenzano, Irving Cotler, and other individuals unlawfully received labor peace payoffs (the City-Man payoffs) from Pacific Intermountain Express Company, Mason and Dixon Lines, Inc. T.I.M.E. - DC, Inc., and Helms Express in violation of 28 U.S.C. § 186(b). On May 5, 1981, Nunzio Provenzano was convicted on RICO charges stemming from these City-Man labor peace payoffs and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. App. at 26, 82-83.

 
(a)(1) Equal rights. -- Every member of a labor organization shall have equal rights and privileges within such organization to nominate candidates, to vote in elections or referendums of the labor organization, to attend membership meetings, and to participate in the deliberations and voting upon the business of such meetings, to participate in the deliberations and voting upon the business of such meetings, subject to reasonable rules and regulations in such organization's constitution and bylaws.

(2) Freedom of speech and assembly. -- Every member of any labor organizations shall have the right to meet and assemble freely with other members; and to express any views, arguments, or opinions; and to express at meetings of the labor organization his views, upon candidates in an election of the labor organization or upon any business properly before the meeting, subject to the organization's established and reasonable rules, pertaining to the conduct of meetings: Provided, That nothing herein shall be construed to impair the right of a labor organization to adopt and enforce reasonable rules as to the responsibility of every member toward the organization  [**21]  as an institution and to his refraining from conduct that would interfere with its performance of its legal or contractual obligations.

 
Thus, we have required proof by clear and convincing evidence where particularly important individual interests or rights are at stake. See, e.g., Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 71 L. Ed. 2d 599, 102 S. Ct. 1388 (1982) (proceeding to terminate parental rights); Addington v. Texas, supra (involuntary commitment proceeding); Woodby v. INS, 385 U.S. 276, 17 L. Ed. 2d 362, 87 S. Ct. 483(1966) (285-286) (deportation). By contrast, imposition of even severe civil sanctions that do not implicate such interests has been permitted after proof by a preponderance of the evidence. See, e.g., United States v. Regan, 232 U.S. 37, 48-49, 58 L. Ed. 494, 34 S. Ct. 213 (1914) (proof by a preponderance of the evidence suffices in civil suits involving proof of acts that expose a party to a criminal prosecution). Thus, in interpreting a statutory provision in Steadman v. SEC, supra, we upheld use of the preponderance standard in SEC administrative proceedings concerning alleged violations of the antifraud provisions. The sanctions imposed in the proceedings included an order permanently barring an individual from practicing his profession. And in SEC v. C.M. Joiner Leasing Corp., 320 U.S. at 355, we held that a preponderance of the evidence suffices to establish fraud under § 17(a) of the 1933 Act.

We are not at all convinced that the predicate acts must be established beyond a reasonable doubt in a proceeding under § 1964(C). In a number of settings, conduct that can be punished as criminal only upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt will support civil sanctions under a preponderance standard. There is no indication that Congress sought to depart from this general principle here. That the offending conduct is described by reference to criminal statutes does not mean that its occurrence must be established by criminal standards or that the consequences of a finding of liability in a private civil action are identical to the consequences of a criminal conviction.

Whoever in any way or degree obstructs, delays, or affects commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce, by robbery or extortion or attempts or conspires so to do, or commits or threatens physical violence to any person or property in furtherance of a plan or purpose to do anything in violation of this section shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.

 
The right to membership in a union is empty if the corresponding right to an election guaranteed with equal solemnity in the fundamental law of the union is denied. If a member has a "property right" in his position on the roster, I think he has an equally enforceable property right in the election of men who will represent him in dealing  [**41]  with his economic security and collective bargaining where that right exists by virtue of express contract in the language of a union constitution.

Generally speaking, the effect of these provisions is to make assault and battery a Federal crime, but only when it occurs in a union. I have already referred above to the inappropriateness of provisions of this type for the enforcement of the rights of union members.

It shall be unlawful for any person through the use of force or violence, to restrain, coerce, or intimidate, or attempt to restrain, coerce, or intimidate any member of a labor organization for the purpose of interfering with or preventing the exercise of any right to which he is entitled under the provisions of this chapter. Any person who willfully violates this section shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.

In order to convict a defendant of aiding and abetting the commission of a crime, the Government must prove two essential elements: (1) that the substantive crime has been committed; and (2) that the defendant charged with aiding and abetting that crime knew of the commission of the substantive offense and acted with the intent to facilitate it.

 
(a) During September of 1961, Anthony Provenzano and other members of the Local 560 Executive Board (which then included Salvatore Provenzano) appointed Salvatore Briguglio to the position of Business Agent -- notwithstanding the fact that Anthony Provenzano then knew that Salvatore Briguglio had murdered Anthony Castellitto, and notwithstanding the fact that rumors to that effect were circulating among the membership at that time.
 [*285]  (b) On or about February 1, 1963, Anthony Provenzano and the other Executive Board members (including Salvatore Provenzano) appointed Nunzio Provenzano to the position of Business Agent -- notwithstanding the fact that three days earlier, on January 29, 1963, Nunzio Provenzano had been convicted (together with Salvatore Briguglio) of an offense involving a payoff demand.
(c) In 1964, Anthony Provenzano and the other Executive Board members (including Salvatore Provenzano) appointed Robert A. Luizzi to the position of Business Agent -- notwithstanding the fact that Luizzi had been convicted  [**52]  in 1945 of a felonious assault and battery and in 1949 of felonious breaking and entry, and had been arrested on four separate occasions thereafter in Hudson County of Disorderly Person, Aggravated Assault, Deadly Weapon and Aiding and Abetting a Robbery.
(d) On or about May 15, 1967, Salvatore Provenzano and the other Executive Board Members appointed Robert A. Luizzi to the position of Trustee -- notwithstanding his criminal record as outlined in (c) above.
(e) On or about April 25, 1969, Salvatore Provenzano and J.W. Dildine and the other members of the Local 560 Executive Board appointed Salvatore Briguglio to the position of Business Agent -- notwithstanding the fact that Salvatore Briguglio had just completed the term of imprisonment for his 1963 conviction in New York State.
(f) On or about April 25, 1969, Salvatore Provenzano, J.W. Dildine and the other Executive Board members appointed Nunzio Provenzano to the position of "clerk" at the uniquely high salary of some $18,000 per year -- notwithstanding the fact that Nunzio Provenzano had just completed the term of imprisonment for his 1963 conviction in New York State, and was forbidden by the terms of his parole from  [**53]  being an officer in the union.
(g) In 1970, Salvatore Provenzano, J.W. Dildine and the other Executive Board members appointed Thomas Reynolds, Sr. to the position of Business Agent -- notwithstanding the fact that Thomas Reynolds, Sr. had pled guilty in 1948 to misdemeanor assault (having been charged with felonious assault), had been convicted in 1958 of felony robbery and had been arrested on five separate occasions for rape (1948), grand larceny (1952), rape (1961), armed robbery (1961), and as a material witness (and, in the minds of some, suspect) in the murder of Walter Glockner (1963).
(i) In 1970, Salvatore Provenzano, J.W. Dildine and other members of the Local 560 Executive Board appointed Nunzio Provenzano to the position of Trustee of the Trucking Employees of Passaic and Bergen Counties Pension and Welfare Funds -- notwithstanding the fact of his previous conviction and incarceration in New York State.
(j) In 1972, Salvatore Provenzano, J.W. Dildine and the other Executive Board members appointed Salvatore Briguglio to the position of Trustee of the Trucking Employees of Passiac and Bergen Counties Pension and Welfare Funds -- notwithstanding the fact of his previous  [**54]  conviction and incarceration in New York State, and notwithstanding the fact that pervasive rumors had linked him to the "disappearance" of Anthony Castellitto.
(k) On or about January 25, 1973, Salvatore Provenzano, J.W. Dildine and the other Executive Board members appointed Nunzio Provenzano to the position of Secretary-Treasurer -- notwithstanding his prior conviction and incarceration.
(l) On or about September 12, 1975, Salvatore Provenano [sic], J.W. Dildine and the other members of the Executive Board appointed Thomas Reynolds, Sr. to the position of Trustee of the Trucking Employees of Passaic and Bergen Counties Pension and Welfare Funds -- notwithstanding his criminal record and rumored involvement in the Glockner murder.
(m) In February 1974, Salvatore Provenzano, Nunzio Provenzano, J.W. Dildine and the other members of the Local 560  [*286]  Executive Board reappointed Salvatore Briguglio to the position of Business Agent -- notwithstanding the fact that Salvatore Briguglio had just completed a term of imprisonment on a federal counterfeiting conviction.
(n) On or about March 12, 1974, Salvatore Provenzano, Nunzio Provenzano, J.W. Dildine and the other members  [**55]  of the Local 560 Executive Board appointed Robert A. Luizzi to the position of Trustee of the Trucking Employees of Passaic and Bergen Counties Welfare and Pension Fund -- notwithstanding his criminal record as outlined above.
(o) On or about November 24, 1975, Salvatore Provenzano, J.W. Dildine and the other Executive Board Members appointed Anthony Provenzano and Nunzio Provenzano to the positions of Secretary-Treasurer and President, respectively -- notwithstanding the fact that Anthony Provenzano had been convicted of labor racketeering and Nunzio Provenzano had been convicted of a felony involving a payoff demand.
(p) On or about February 9, 1977, Anthony Provenzano, Salvatore Provenzano, Nunzio Provenzano, J.W. Dildine and the other members of the Executive Board appointed Thomas Reynolds, Sr. to the position of Trustee of Local 560 -- notwithstanding his criminal record and his rumored involvement in the Glockner murder.
(q) In 1981, Nunzio Provenzano, Salvatore Provenzano, Joseph Sheridan, Josephine Provenzano, J.W. Dildine, Thomas Reynolds, Sr., Stanley Jaronko and Michael Sciarra, as members of the Executive Board of Local 560, appointed Robert A. Luizzi to the  [**56]  position of Business Agent -- notwithstanding the fact that Luizzi had a criminal record involving crimes of violence, and notwithstanding the fact that Luizzi had been identified in sworn testimony as having solicited labor peace payoffs or bribes from Helms Express, a trucking company then under contract with Local 560.