ACLJ: Supreme Court Must Overturn RICO Case Against Pro-Life Groups
Supreme Court Asked To Remove Nationwide Injunction and Racketeering Judgment
December 4, 2002

(Washington, DC) - The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, today called on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decision that permitted the use of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute - a law designed to combat drug dealers and organized crime - to be used against pro-life organizations resulting in a nationwide injunction and a racketeering judgment against pro-life activists that included damages awarded to abortion businesses.

"The outcome of this case will have a direct impact beyond the abortion debate and set free speech parameters for the entire social protest movement," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ and Counsel of Record in one of the pro-life cases considered by the Supreme Court today. "The Supreme Court has a critical opportunity to correct an injustice by declaring that the federal RICO statute cannot be legally used to silence social protests - especially if the message is a pro-life message. We have a deep and rich history in America built on a foundation of freedom that guarantees protestors the right to openly express themselves. The Supreme Court must step in and reject the legally flawed strategy of using RICO to silence those whose message we may not agree with through the use of injunctions and racketeering judgments. RICO must never be used as a muzzle for the First Amendment."

In July 2002, the ACLJ filed a brief with the 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.

Sekulow is Counsel of Record in the Operation Rescue case and worked with the legal team that presented arguments before the Supreme Court today.

The ACLJ contends that only the federal government - not private parties like NOW - can use RICO to sue for injunctions. Further, the ACLJ said that a non-violent pro-life sit-in at an abortion business does not qualify as federal criminal extortion. In its brief, the ACLJ asked the Supreme Court to overturn a federal appeals court ruling in 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 last year 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 heard oral arguments in the case today. A decision is expected by the end of the term in mid 2003.

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.