Court Sides With Abortion Protesters
The Supreme Court ruling had nothing to do with the underlying issue of abortion. Rather, the court ruled that federal extortion and racketeering laws cannot be used to ban demonstrations. (Alito, by the way, sat this one out.)AP: WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court dealt a setback Tuesday to abortion clinics in a two-decade-old legal fight over anti-abortion protests, ruling that federal extortion and racketeering laws cannot be used to ban demonstrations.
The 8-0 decision ends a case that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had kept alive despite a 2003 ruling by the high court that lifted a nationwide injunction on anti-abortion groups led by Joseph Scheidler and others.
Anti-abortion groups brought the appeal after the appellate court sought to determine whether the injunction could be supported by charges that protesters had made threats of violence.
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