During the 1920s the United States chose to outlaw alcohol, and inadvertently gave the already established American Mafia, of La Cosa Nostra (Our thing) an opportunity to expand and make some real money with bootlegging and speakeasies. By the time prohibition had been repealed the Mafia had its fingers in ... . Racketeering refers to criminal activity done to help an organization. A crime specifically based on the word for Mafia schemes, a racket. The most common example of such an organization would be La Cosa Nostra or better known as the Mafia, but it can apply to any organization using c...

• Word Count: 1544
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... , both in America and in Sicily. Ever since the testimony of the Mafioso Joseph Valachi before the Senate's McClellan Committee in 1963, the Mafia has also been referred to as "La Cosa Nostra," "this thing of ours." Americans have felt the impact of organized crime, and they have followed the media coverage of the mob wars and their victims with fascination ... ...

• Word Count: 2135
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate