Adopted by various mafioso leaders since about 1930, the “no hands rule” forbids any mob member from physically attacking another. The purpose of the rule— apparently first propounded by Salvatore Maranzano and later insisted upon by Lucky Luciano—was to prevent needless outbreaks of gang warfare.
The rule was especially important in New York where five crime families operated in the city. Inevitably there was friction between family members about racket rights in certain spots or the exclusivity of a certain shakedown, gambling or loan shark victim. Crime family leaders reserved to themselves the right to decide such matters and did not approve the actions of a hit-happy low echelon hoodlum in provoking a situation in which “honor” would require all-out warfare.
Thus the rule was set. The mere laying of one’s hands on another gangster was cause enough for even the death penalty to be imposed on the offender. While such a “Cosa Nostra code” would seem to guarantee civilized behavior, such was seldom the case. The late Joe Valachi was noted for using violence to keep other Cosa Nostra members from treading on his financial interests, and, on one occasion, he knocked out fellow racketeer Frank Luciano (no relation to Lucky) when he caught him appropriating some of their joint monies.
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Taken to the “table”—a Mafia trial—Valachi was tried by Murder, Inc., boss Albert Anastasia, noted for his unpredictable actions. He could have ordered Valachi’s death with a snap of the finger. However, Anastasia went the other way, declaring Valachi to be more in the right than his victim and giving what amounted to an award of damages to Valachi.
In actual practice, the no hands rule does not seem to have been rigidly enforced. When it was, most likely it represented a family boss’s method of achieving some end of his own.
