Reprinted from The Washington Times , 5am -- April 21, 1998
Pro-lifers liable in extortion lawsuit
By Cheryl Wetzstein
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
A federal jury in Chicago said yesterday that two pro-life groups and three pro-life leaders had committed acts of extortion against two abortion clinics and awarded the clinics more than $85,000 in damages.
The verdict may have far-reaching impact, according to Susan Hill, president of the company that owns the two abortion clinics in Wilmington, Del., and Milwaukee. The damages will automatically be trebled under the racketeering statutes on which the civil suit was filed, and the class-action ruling opens the door for claims by more than 900 clinics across the country, with potential damages in the millions of dollars.
The defendants -- the Pro-Life Action League, Operation Rescue and pro-life leaders Joseph Scheidler, Timothy Murphy and Andrew Scholberg -- said they would appeal the decision.
The National Organization for Women (NOW), which filed the lawsuit in 1986 with the two abortion clinics, also asked the court to issue an injunction to halt demonstrations at abortion clinics.
U.S. District Judge David Coar said yesterday that he would consider the matter, perhaps as early as today.
A jury of two men and four women had been deliberating since Thursday whether the pro-life defendants had waged a campaign to "restrain trade" in abortions for more than a decade.
The plaintiffs called in patients, doctors and clinic staff members who testified that they were verbally harassed and physically assaulted by pro-life advocates.
The defense argued that the blockades, sidewalk counseling, song and prayer vigils and peaceful sit-ins were all within the bounds of legal civil disobedience and First Amendment rights.
Judge Coar told jurors they only needed to find that the defendants committed two acts of extortion in a 10-year period to be held liable under the Racketeer Influenced, Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
Preventing a patient or staff member from entering a health facility could be considered extortion, the jurors were told.
In yesterday's ruling, jurors determined the defendants had committed 21 acts of extortion, including threats of physical violence and blockades of clinic doorways.
The jury awarded the two clinics $85,926.92 in damages to pay for security costs. These costs can be trebled under RICO.
"If [pro-life leaders] had a message that was good enough, they wouldn't have to barricade doors. It's only because their message is so weak that they have to resort to these tactics," said Fay Clayton, an attorney for NOW and the two abortion clinics.
Miss Clayton told jurors the defendants created an atmosphere in which others carried out these acts of arsons and bombings. She quoted Mr. Scheidler as telling his allies, "You can try for 50 years to do it the nice way or you can do it next week the nasty way."
"We wanted to come out as a legitimate force in America and not as racketeerism," Mr. Scheidler said yesterday. "There's no honor in being a racketeer, and we're not racketeers."
Later, he said the plaintiffs' case was "full of lies and misstatements" and predicted a "solid victory at the appellate level."
The use of RICO as the basis for the lawsuit has been controversial.
In 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the RICO law was so broadly written that it could be used against any economically disinterested protesters.
G. Robert Blakey, the Notre Dame University law professor who was a chief architect of the RICO statute, has said the act was intended only for use against organized crime and drug cartels.
"This case is a nightmare for anybody who wants to picket," Mr. Blakey said recently, adding that groups who don't profit financially should not be penalized.
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.
- This article is based in part on wire service reports.
Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
Reprinted with permission of
The Washington Times.
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