The Third Circuit held today that civil claims under the Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act didn’t run afoul of "reverse pre-emption" under the McCarran-Ferguson Act. The M-F Act bars courts from reading any federal statute to "invalidate, impair, or supersede" any state law "enacted . . . for the purpose of regulating the business of insurance". The court analyzed the compatability of New Jersey’s insurance laws with the RICO claims and concluded that they could co-exist in harmony. Weiss v. First Unum Life Ins. Co., 05-5428 (3d Cir. Apr. 3, 2007).
Barry Barnett