Earlier this week, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Court handed down a pretty unusual decision [link via How Appealing] to uphold the sentence of Charles Floyd Pipkins and Andrew Moore Jr. Moore and Pipkins are better known by their respective aliases Sir Charles and Batman. Sir Charles and Batman were pimps in the Atlanta area, and the Court of Appeals decision in their case has to be one of the more hilarious and strange decisions ever.
The background section is particularly enlightening, since it provides a lot of insight into the social stratification of Atlanta’s pimps, and the rules of their business, which were even provided to new pimps and prostitutes in a series of videos:
The pimping subculture in Atlanta operated under a set of rules, presented in the video called Really Really Pimpin’ in Da South. This videotape was made in Atlanta by Pipkins and Carlos Glover, a business associate. Really Really Pimpin’ in Da South featured prominent Atlanta pimps, including Pipkins, explaining the rules of the game. This video, along with its companion piece, Pimps Up Hoes Down, outlined the pimp code of conduct, and was repeatedly shown to new pimps and prostitutes alike to concisely explain what was expected of a prostitute. The origin of Pimps Up Hoes Down is unknown. In essence, these videos taught that prostitutes were required to perform sexual acts, known as “tricks” or “dates,” for money.
I could spend a ton of time quoting the decision, which gets into a pretty good amount of detail regarding the pimping activities of Sir Charles and Batman, but I thought the most interesting section of the decision was that the they—along with a number of other Atlanta-area pimps—were rung up on federal charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which was established in 1962 as a tool to go after the Mafia.
Of course, the Mafia isn’t the only organization that can engage in racketeering, they’re just the prototype of a criminal organization that engages in long term criminal activity that affects interstate or foreign commerce. By organizing a large scale prostitution ring in concert with a number of pimps, Sir Charles and Batman definitely qualified as a criminal enterprise that would be eligible for prosecution. Additionally, they often conducted business across state lines, thereby qualifying their prostitution ring as interstate commerce.
Despite the evidence against him, Sir Charles attempted to wiggle his way out of the RICO section of the case in his appeal:
Moore advances the creative, yet hopeless contention that he could not have agreed to participate in an enterprise with other pimps because he was not considered a real pimp by other pimps and their prostitutes because he did not follow the rules of the game. In support of this assertion, Moore cites testimony from Hollywood that Moore was a mere “shoe man” and a ticket scalping “hustler,” disrespected in the neighborhood for the way he conducted his affairs. The record negates Moore’s claims. While the other denizens of Metropolitan Avenue may have looked down upon Moore for being a “guerilla pimp,” he was a pimp nonetheless. At trial, Hollywood, Worm, Scooby, and KK referred to Moore as a pimp. Contrary to Moore’s assertions, the record overwhelmingly shows that he was a pimp who knowingly worked in concert with other pimps.
Since any pattern of racketeering activity can qualify as a RICO violation, the use of RICO has greatly extended since it was passed, and has been used to for a wide variety of purposes, including against the big tobacco companies and a Catholic bishop.
Posted by Drew at August 4, 2004 08:48 PM