Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Anti-Abortion Activists Convicted > CHICAGO (AP) -- In an unusual use of a racketeering law > designed to fight the mob, a federal jury ruled Monday > that anti-abortion protest organizers used threats and > violence to shut down clinics -- a verdict that could > cost the movement millions. > > Although the abortion foes were ordered to pay only > about $258,000, the class-action ruling opened the door > for more claims by as many as 1,000 clinics across the > country. > > ``This is the biggest courtroom defeat for the > anti-abortion movement ever,'' declared Fay Clayton, an > attorney for the National Organization for Women, which > filed the lawsuit in 1986. > > Defense attorneys said the verdict would be appealed > and Cardinal Francis George announced that the Chicago > Archdiocese would consider joining the appeal as a > friend of the court, calling the verdict ``unjust.'' > > ``The decision in this case effectively equates freedom > of speech with racketeering,'' the cardinal said in a > statement. > > The jury found that anti-abortion activist Joseph > Scheidler and two associates, Timothy Murphy and Andrew > Scholberg, engaged in 21 acts of extortion to shut down > clinics. The jury also found that two anti-abortion > organizations, the Pro-Life Action League and Operation > Rescue, were part of the scheme. > > The jury ordered the three activists and two > organizations to pay $85,926.92 in damages, which will > be tripled under the racketeering law. > > The damages were awarded to abortion clinics in > Milwaukee and Wilmington, Del., for security measures > required after violence flared outside their doors. But > a number of other clinics intend to file for > class-action damages under the verdict. > > ``They want to bankrupt us -- there's no question about > that,'' said Scheidler, executive director of the > Pro-Life Action League. > > Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry originally was > named in the lawsuit. But already facing $169,000 in > court awards from two other abortion lawsuits, he > settled with NOW in January and was no longer part of > the case. > > He agreed not to participate in any criminal activity > against abortion clinics, their staffs or patients or > belong to any group that does; violation of that > agreement could cost him $15,000 and allow NOW to > reinstate him as a defendant. > > A number of other clinics intend to file for > class-action damages under the verdict, according to > clinic operators. > > Wendy Crew, an attorney for the Alabama-based New Woman > All Women Clinic, announced in Birmingham that the > clinic was considering an effort to collect triple > damages. A security guard was killed and a nurse badly > injured in a Jan. 29 bombing at the facility. The > suspect remains at large. > > A turning point in the case came in 1994 when the U.S. > Supreme Court reversed lower-court rulings and gave NOW > permission to refile the lawsuit under the Racketeer > Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. It was the > first nationwide class-action lawsuit ever filed > against the anti-abortion movement under RICO. > > Congress passed the law in 1970 as a weapon against > organized crime, but in recent years businesses have > also become targets of its civil provisions. > > Defense attorney Tom Brejcha said that RICO never > should have been used in the case. ``RICO is terribly > flawed, vague and over broad,'' he said. > > Abortion-rights forces won a lawsuit several years ago > against blockade organizers under the RICO act in > Philadelphia. But Clayton said that verdict was minor > by comparison. > > U.S. District Judge David Coar scheduled a hearing for > Wednesday at which he is expected to discuss a court > order to curb violence at clinics. > > Coar barred abortion-rights attorneys from introducing > evidence that they claimed would tie the defendants to > more than a decade of bombings and arsons at clinics > around the country. But he allowed them to tell jurors > of doctors and patients being grabbed, pushed, struck > with protest signs and threatened. > > Scheidler and his co-defendants denied encouraging > violence, saying they couldn't help the excesses of a > few individuals. > > ``We wanted to come out as a legitimate force in > America and not as racketeers,'' Scheidler said. > ``There is no honor in being a racketeer and we're not > racketeers.'' > > Feminists were elated by the decision. > > ``A jury of six men and women saw through the thugs' > shameless attempt to pervert the First Amendment,'' NOW > President Patricia Ireland said. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
