Editing Ferdinand Marcos (section)

===Legal cases===
Within two weeks of his arrival to the United States, hundreds of criminal and civil cases against the Marcos clique were filed in Hawaii, San Francisco, and New York.<ref name="ADST - Handholding a Dictator" /> Marcos made personal appeals to Reagan to put a stop to these cases. In June 1988 [[United States National Security Advisor|National Security Advisor]] [[Colin Powell]] recommended proceeding with indictments of the Marcoses, as he reviewed the cases as forwarded by [[United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York]] [[Rudy Giuliani]]. Reagan tacitly approved.<ref name="RRPL - Box 153">{{cite web |title=Collection: WHORM Subject Files Folder Title:CO 125 (Philippines) 560000-574999 Box 153 |url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/whormsubject/co125/box-153/40-654-6282802-153-009-2018.pdf |website=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library |publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Digital Library Collections |access-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614013620/https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/whormsubject/co125/box-153/40-654-6282802-153-009-2018.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> On August 4, Marcos stated that he had [[Immunity from prosecution (international law)|head of state immunity]] to resist the subpoenas by a [[Grand juries in the United States#Federal law|federal grand jury]] to produce his finger and palm prints, and failed to consent to investigators to review his bank accounts. By August 18, a bench warrant of arrest was issued against the Marcoses. By October that year, Reagan personally wrote to Marcos informing him that he believed his innocence of the charges against him, but reminding him that the case was out of his hands. He assured him that they would have every opportunity to prove their innocence.<ref name="RRPL - CO125">{{cite web |title=Folder Title:CO 125 (Philippines) 589090 (1) Box: 153 |url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/whormsubject/co125/box-153/40-654-6282802-153-012-2018.pdf |website=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library |access-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614020802/https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/whormsubject/co125/box-153/40-654-6282802-153-012-2018.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

Giuliani pressed for indicting the Marcoses for violating the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act]] (RICO). The RICO Act focuses specifically on [[racketeering]] and allows the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes they [[Dirty hands|ordered]] others to do [[Enmund v. Florida|or assisted them in doing]]. For example, before RICO, a person who instructed someone else to [[murder]] could be exempt from prosecution because they did not personally commit the crime. In his next letter to President Reagan on October 20, Marcos complained that Giuliani was giving them nothing but an ultimatum to plead guilty, and even to testify against others, including his own family.<ref name="RRPL - CO125" />