Federal judge rules that LAPD can be sued as a "criminal enterprise" (tags)
On Monday, in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, a federal district ct. judge ruled that the LAPD's Rampart Division can be sued under federal "RICO" law as a "criminal enterprise". Among other things, this extends the statute of limitations for civil rights actions against the city by ten times -- raising it from 1 year (normal) to ten years (RICO). It also triples the city's civil liability, since RICO allows for triple damages.