National Organization for Women, Inc. v. Scheidler
Encyclopedia
- Not to be confused with 2003 and 2006 cases both named Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc.Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc.NOW v. Scheidler, 547 U.S. 9 , was a lengthy and high-profile U.S. legal case interpreting and applying the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act : a law originally drafted to combat the mafia and organized crime, the Hobbs Act: an anti-extortion law prohibiting interference...
National Organization for Women v. Scheidler was an American court case decided Jan 24, 1994. In it, the Supreme Court ruled that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization...
(RICO) could apply to enterprises without economic motives; pro-life protesters could thus be prosecuted under it. An organization without an economic motive can still affect interstate or foreign commerce and thus satisfy the Act's definition of a racketeering enterprise.
The Court did not issue judgment on whether or not the Pro-Life Action Network, the organization in question, had committed actions that could be prosecuted under RICO.
G. Robert Blakey
G. Robert Blakey
George Robert Blakey is an American attorney and law professor. He is best known for his work in connection with drafting the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and for scholarship on that subject.-Education and family:Blakey graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1957,...
argued on behalf of Scheidler, while Miguel Estrada
Miguel Estrada
Miguel Angel Estrada Castañeda is an attorney who became embroiled in controversy following his 2001 nomination by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...
represented the United States as amicus curiae
Amicus curiae
An amicus curiae is someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information to assist a court in deciding a matter before it...
in favor of reversal.
The case was superseded by Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc.
Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc.
NOW v. Scheidler, 547 U.S. 9 , was a lengthy and high-profile U.S. legal case interpreting and applying the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act : a law originally drafted to combat the mafia and organized crime, the Hobbs Act: an anti-extortion law prohibiting interference...
in 2003.