Cite as: 529 U. S. 494 (2000)
Stevens, J., dissenting
§ 1962(d), sue co-conspirators who might not themselves have violated one of the substantive provisions of § 1962.
III
We conclude, therefore, that a person may not bring suit under § 1964(c) predicated on a violation of § 1962(d) for injuries caused by an overt act that is not an act of racketeering or otherwise unlawful under the statute.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.
It is so ordered.
Justice Stevens, with whom Justice Souter joins, dissenting.
For the purpose of decision, I assume—as I think the Court does—that petitioner has alleged an injury proximately caused by an overt act in furtherance of a conspiracy that violated 18 U. S. C. § 1962(d). In my judgment, the plain language of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) makes it clear that petitioner therefore has a cause of action under § 1964(c), whether or not the overt act is a racketeering activity listed in § 1961(1). The common-law civil conspiracy cases relied upon by the Court prove nothing to the contrary.
A "conspiracy" is an illegal agreement. There is, of course, a difference between the question whether an agreement is illegal and the question whether an admittedly illegal agreement gives rise to a cause of action for damages. Section 1962(d), which makes RICO conspiracies unlawful, addresses the former question; 1 § 1964(c), which imposes civil
1 Those who participate in an illegal agreement to violate the substantive provisions of § 1962(a), (b), or (c) have engaged in a conspiracy in violation of § 1962(d). See Salinas v. United States, 522 U. S. 52, 63-65 (1997). Although "[t]here is no requirement of some overt act" to violate § 1962(d), id., at 63, that, of course, does not mean that an agreement alone gives rise to civil liability under § 1964(c).
507
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