How Is Extortion Different from Racketeering? Certain federal officials are subject to additional statutes of regulations regarding extortion, such as laws prohibiting customs officials from demanding additional fees at ports. Threats to federal or foreign officials in order to obtain some sort of official benefit may also be prosecuted as extortion under federal law. Under federal law, the offense of extortion typically requires the use of interstate communications to make a threat. The statute prohibits a person (1) from obtaining someone else’s property or “an official act of a public officer ” (2) by wrongfully using force against the person, instilling fear of harm in the person, or acting “under color of official right.”Įxtortion may be prosecuted under federal law when it involves interstate communications or the extortion of a federal or foreign official. Large-scale extortion, such as extortion performed by or on behalf of an organization, may be prosecuted as racketeering under statutes like the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).Ĭalifornia’s extortion statute, which defines the offense based on two elements, the alleged perpetrator’s objective and the means used, offers a good example of extortion’s legal definition. Extortion that involves the use of information, rather than force, in order to coerce someone is classified as blackmail in some jurisdictions. One form of extortion, commonly known as “protection,” involves a promise to refrain from a harmful action, which by necessity implies a threat of harm, in exchange for ongoing payments.
This could consist of physical harm, financial harm, destruction of property, or abuse of official power. Many jurisdictions classify extortion as a “crime against property” or a theft-related offense, but the threat of harm to a person is an essential element of the offense. It is sometimes said that in extortion the victim consents, although under duress, while in robbery his will is overwhelmed so that there is no consent but this is an extremely tenuous distinction.The use of force, or the threat of force, to obtain money, something else of value, or services from a person is often known as the criminal offense of extortion. More remote and less terrifying threats fall within the province of the extortion and blackmail statutes. Robbery is typically confined to taking property from the person or presence of the victim by violence or by threat to do an immediate physical harm. The scope given to the offense of extortion in a particular legal system is determined partly by the content of the related offense of robbery. Some forms of threat are occasionally singled out for separate statutory treatment under the designation “blackmail.” But extortion and, to a limited extent, bribery have been expanded to include actions by private citizens as well.Įxtortion may include threats of harm to a person or his property, threats to accuse him of a crime, or threats to reveal embarrassing information. Extortion was originally the complement of bribery, both crimes involving interference with or by public officials. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!Įxtortion, the unlawful exaction of money or property through intimidation.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.
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