ACLJ Asks Supreme Court to Hear Rico Case Against Pro-Life Groups
January 28, 2002

(Washington, DC) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, announced today it is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take a case and overturn a lower court ruling that determined the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute could be used against pro-life organizations.

“It is clear that a federal statute – designed for drug dealers and organized crime – has been misapplied and turned against pro-life groups,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. “To let the federal RICO statute be misused to target the pro-life community is not only offensive, but represents a grave injustice. To equate a sit-in with criminal extortion and racketeering is an insult to the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, and just about any other serious social protest movement in this nation’s history. We are hopeful the high court considers this case and overturns this disturbing decision.”

The ACLJ is filing a petition for writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court today in the case of Operation Rescue v. National Organization for Women, et al. asking the court to overturn a federal appeals court ruling in October 2001 that upheld a lower court judgment that determined that pro-life defendants were liable for “extortion” and “racketeering” under the federal RICO statute and awarded damages to abortion businesses, while upholding a nationwide injunction issued against the pro-life groups.

The 15-year-old case culminated in October 2001 when a federal appeals court upheld a finding by a federal district court and jury that several pro-life groups engaged in a nationwide conspiracy to shut down the abortion industry and were punished with damages and an injunction under provisions of the federal RICO statute.

The ACLJ argues that the appeals court:

Erroneously let NOW get an injunction under RICO, when the statute only permits the federal government to sue for injunctions under RICO;

Erroneously held that a protest sit-in is a form of felony extortion, even though the demonstrators did not “obtain property” from anyone, a required element of extortion;

Erroneously ruled that it was “harmless error” to let the jury find defendants guilty of “generic state extortion,” a non-existent, fictional substitute for each state’s extortion laws; and,

Trampled on the First Amendment rights of defendants by allowing “guilty by association” absent proof that defendants were truly responsible for alleged harms.
The Supreme Court may decide as early as March whether to review the case.

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm that specializes in constitutional law and the defense of life. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA and the web site is www.aclj.org.