## Facts

- Safe Streets Alliance and two Colorado members, Phillis Windy Hope Reilly and Michael P. Reilly (collectively, plaintiffs), filed a civil action under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) against Alternative Holistic Healing, LLC, and other individuals and entities involved in growing and selling marijuana in Colorado (collectively, defendants).
- Plaintiffs alleged defendants worked together as a RICO enterprise to grow and sell marijuana at two sites in Colorado in violation of federal drug laws.
- One of the alleged marijuana-growing sites was adjacent to a large piece of property owned by the individual plaintiffs.
- Plaintiffs alleged defendants’ unlawful activities at the neighboring site diminished the value of the individual plaintiffs’ property and interfered with their ability to use and enjoy the land.
- Plaintiffs identified a building constructed near the shared property line that allegedly obscured scenic mountain views and served as a continuing reminder of the nearby unlawful activity.
- Plaintiffs alleged a constant unpleasant marijuana odor emanated from defendants’ property onto the individual plaintiffs’ land.
- Plaintiffs alleged defendants’ activities increased related criminal activity in the area.
- Plaintiffs sought an injunction prohibiting defendants from continuing to grow and sell marijuana, treble damages tied to the alleged diminution in the value of the individual plaintiffs’ property, and other relief.

## Issues

1. Whether defendants’ coordinated marijuana-growing and sales activities, alleged to violate federal drug laws, constituted a RICO “enterprise” engaged in racketeering activity and a pattern of racketeering activity.
2. Whether plaintiffs adequately alleged an “injury to business or property” under 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c) based on claimed loss in property value and interference with use and enjoyment of land (including odor and view obstruction).
3. Whether plaintiffs plausibly alleged that the claimed property harms were caused “by reason of” defendants’ alleged RICO violations (including proximate causation).

## Decision

- This document is a Second Amended Complaint (a pleading) in Civil Action No. 15-349; it does not itself decide the merits of the dispute.
- Plaintiffs re-pleaded civil RICO-based claims against defendants, alleging that marijuana-related conduct violating federal drug laws caused concrete harms to the individual plaintiffs’ neighboring property.
- Plaintiffs requested (1) injunctive relief barring continued marijuana growing and sales, (2) treble damages based on alleged diminution in the property’s value, and (3) additional relief as allowed by law.

## Legal Principles

- A civil RICO claim generally requires allegations of (i) an enterprise, (ii) a pattern of racketeering activity, and (iii) injury to the plaintiff’s business or property caused by the RICO violation. 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962, 1964(c).
- Civil RICO standing under § 1964(c) requires allegations of an injury to “business or property,” not merely personal disagreement with or objection to the challenged conduct.
- The causation element in civil RICO requires allegations that the plaintiff’s injury occurred “by reason of” the alleged RICO violation, which includes proximate causation.
- In pleading a property-based RICO injury, plaintiffs may rely on allegations such as diminished real-property value and physical or functional interference with use of land (for example, odor intrusions or physical structures affecting the property), so long as they are tied to the alleged RICO wrongdoing and are presented as concrete harms.

## Conclusion

In the Second Amended Complaint in *Safe Streets Alliance v. Alternative Holistic Healing, LLC*, plaintiffs alleged that defendants formed a RICO enterprise by jointly growing and selling marijuana at two Colorado sites in violation of federal drug laws, and that activities at the site adjoining the Reillys’ property caused concrete property harms—diminished value, impaired use and enjoyment due to persistent odor, obstructed views from a newly constructed building, and increased nearby criminal activity—warranting injunctive relief, treble damages, and other remedies.


Safe Streets Alliance v. Alternative Holistic Healing, LLC, Second Amended Complaint, Civil Action No. 15-349 (2016)