On February 28, 2006, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of pro-life demonstrators and organizations bringing an end to a nearly 20-year-old legal marathon involving a federal racketeering statute used against pro-life demonstrators.  The high court ruled that the actions of the pro-life demonstrators fell outside the scope of the federal Hobbs Act, and therefore the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute - a law designed to combat drug dealers and organized crime.  In its decision, the high court ordered the federal appeals court to enter a ruling in favor of the pro-life demonstrators and organizations bringing an end to a case that lasted nearly two decades.  The decision by the high court comes three years after the Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that RICO was wrongly used against pro-life demonstrators.  Following that decision three years ago, the National Organization for Women kept the issue alive in the lower courts.  The ACLJ represented Operation Rescue and served as Counsel of Record in the case.

A federal appeals court ignored the 8-1 Supreme Court decision in 2003 and has given the pro-abortion groups a chance to pursue this case further.  The ACLJ, which represented Operation Rescue in the 2003 Supreme Court case, filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking that the high court review and reverse the lower court decision that is keeping this case alive.  The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case in November 2005 and its unanimous decision in favor of the pro-life demonstrators and organizations was announced on February 28, 2006.