Justices accept pro-life protest case again
- Jun 30, 2005
The Supreme Court announced June 28 it would rule on an abortion protest case that returned to the high court after the justices appeared to settle in a 2003 opinion whether a federal anti-racketeering law could be used against pro-life demonstrators.
The justices’ decision to review lower-court action in the pro-life protest case gives them an opportunity to deal with what appears to be a recalcitrant appeals court. In 2003, the justices decided in an 8-1 ruling the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) did not apply to protest activities at abortion clinics. The pro-life demonstrators did not commit extortion, the justices ruled, sending the case back to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The Seventh Circuit, however, ruled a nationwide injunction against the protestors should remain in place under RICO.
The twin cases, Operation Rescue v. National Organization for Women and Scheidler v. NOW, will be consolidated and argued before the high court after its new term begins in October.
The cases began in 1986 with suits by NOW.
They are primarily free-speech cases, and activists from across the political spectrum have sided with the pro-life demonstrators. Among those signing onto friend-of-the-court briefs supporting the pro-lifers were actor Martin Sheen, anti-war priest Daniel Berrigan and anti-death penalty activist Helen Prejean, as well as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
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