Victory At Last in NOW v. Operation Rescue

As most of you know, we have been litigating a RICO case that was brought by the National Organization of Women (NOW) against Operation Rescue and others for over 20 years.  We have taken the case to the Supreme Court of the United States on three separate occasions.  Several weeks ago, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in our favor once again, declaring that RICO cannot be applied to pro-life protests.  This was a significant and hard-fought victory for all of us who are concerned about free speech and civil rights. 

We had previously won this case at the Supreme Court just three years ago.  Unfortunately, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit, at that particular time, kept the case going.  They came up with another novel theory to allow the nationwide injunction to stay in force.  We were concerned that even after this Supreme Court victory, the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals might once again try to keep this injunction going.  Briefs were filed arguing that the Supreme Courts decision by Justice Breyer was final and that there were no loop holes in the order.  On more than one occasion, Justice Breyer stated in his opinion that the case is over.  This sent a clear message to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit that the opinion of the Supreme Court left no room for interpretation.  We were very pleased with Justice Breyers opinion and felt confident that the case would finally be dismissed before the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals.

I am happy to report that we have just received word that the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals is following through with Justice Breyers opinion and dismissing the case once and for all.  This is a huge and significant victory for the pro-life movement!  For far too long, pro-abortion forces have sought to utilize the Ku Klux Klan Act (which was aimed at the awful practices of the KKK) and RICO (which was aimed at money launderers and racketeers), by twisting their wording to try and apply them to pro-life protests.  Fortunately, the Supreme Court has rejected both statutes application to pro-life protests.  Once again, the Supreme Court has clarified that acts of civil disobedience cannot be lumped in with racketeers and money launderers.  I know that you will be pleased with the final decision that has now been reached in this case.

In three weeks, we will be filing our brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in the partial-birth abortion cases.  I am pleased with the way the brief is coming out and am optimistic about this case, which will be argued in the fall.  We will keep you posted on this and other matters at www.aclj.org.