The Law: The Problem of Conspiracy

What do Charles Manson, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Billie Sol Estes, Abbie Hoffman, Bobby Scale, various General Electric executives and numerous Mafia members have in common? They have all been accused or convicted of conspiracy, the most elusive crime on the books. The crime can be little more than an intention: an agreement between two or more people to do something illegal. Federal law and many state laws add the stipulation that at least one conspirator take an overt step, not necessarily an illegal one. But so sprawling and elastic is the legal conception...

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