G. Robert Blakey
| G. Robert Blakey | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
January 7, 1936 Burlington, North Carolina |
| Residence | Indiana |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Education | AB 1957; JD 1960 |
| Alma mater | University of Notre Dame |
| Occupation | Law professor |
| Employer | Notre Dame Law School |
| Known for | Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) |
| Spouse(s) | Elaine Menard (m. 1958; d. 2002) |
| Notes | |
George Robert Blakey (born January 7, 1936, in Burlington, North Carolina) is an Americanattorney and law professor. He is best known for his work in connection with drafting the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and for scholarship on that subject.
Blakey, an Irish Catholic, graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1957, earning a degree in philosophy with honors, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He then attended Notre Dame Law School, where he was an associate editor of the Notre Dame Law Review and was awarded a J.D. 1960.
In April 1958, during his first year of law school, Blakey married Elaine Menard, a graduate of St. Mary's College. The couple had 8 children and 18 grandchildren, and remained married until her death in 2002. He is the father of John Robert Blakey, a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, who was formerly chief of the Special Prosecutions Bureau for the Cook County State's Attorney and a special assistant attorney in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Under the close supervision of Senator John Little McClellan, the Chairman of the Committee for which he worked, Blakey drafted the "RICO Act," Title IX of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, signed into law by Richard M. Nixon. While in law school, Blakey edited a student note on the unsuccessful prosecution of attendees at the Apalachin Meeting, which first sparked his interest in organized crime; he also wrote a note that analyzed civil liberties in the union movement. In 1960, after law school, Blakey joined the United States Department of Justice under its Honor Program, and he became a Special Attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Criminal Division of the Department. After Robert F. Kennedy became Attorney General, the Department began a major effort to bring criminal prosecutions against organized crime members, corrupt political figures, and faithless union officials. The Section assigned Blakey to the effort. He remained at Justice until 1964, leaving the summer after the November 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy.
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