ACLJ Urges Supreme Court To Overturn RICO Case Against Pro-Life Groups
July 12, 2002

(Washington, DC) - The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, today filed a legal brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging the high court to overturn a lower federal court decision that permitted the use of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute to be used against pro-life organizations resulting in a racketeering judgment against pro-life activists that included damages awarded to abortion businesses and a nationwide injunction against pro-life groups.

"This is a very important case that will ultimately determine whether the federal RICO statute can be used to silence social protests in this country," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "The RICO statute was designed to combat drug dealers and organized crime and never intended to be used against those who wish to express their opposition to abortion or any other issue. The misapplication of the statute is not only troubling for the pro-life movement but should concern all Americans. If RICO can be used to shut down the pro-life message, it can also be used to silence other protests as well. We're hopeful the Supreme Court will correct this injustice and overturn the judgment."

The ACLJ today filed a 50-page brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Operation Rescue in the consolidation of the cases of Scheidler v. National Organization for Women (NOW) and Operation Rescue v. National Organization for Women.

The ACLJ addresses two key issues in its brief urging the court to find that only the federal government - not private parties like NOW - can use RICO to sue for injunctions. The ACLJ also contends that that a non-violent pro-life sit-in at an abortion business does not qualify as federal criminal extortion.

"Are we going to treat protestors in a country that embraces freedom like those in totalitarian regimes where protestors are crushed and locked away? - that's the fundamental question at issue here," said Sekulow, who is serving as Counsel of Record in the Operation Rescue case. "If this decision is not overturned, will we then have to re-write history and label those who have brought change through social protests - including the abolitionists and even Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - as racketeers guilty of extortion?"

The ACLJ represents Operation Rescue in the case and is 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 16-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 totaling more than $250,000 and an injunction under provisions of the federal RICO statute.

The Supreme Court is likely to hear oral arguments in the case this fall.

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.