# Amicus Curiae Brief — Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc.

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URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385016_0087%3A12

## Record

- **Collection:** Supreme Court brief
- **Document type:** Amicus Curiae Brief
- **Published:** January 1, 2005
- **Citation:** 545 U.S. 1151

## Text

—_ ~~
Supreme ( ‘ourt, US
FILED —

OFFIC} OF 7

Supreme Court of the Anited

JOSEPH SCHEIDLER, ANDREW SCHOLBERG, TIMOTHY MURPHY,
and THE PRO-LIFE ACTION LEAGUE, INC.,
Petitioners,

Vv

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN, INC., ef ai.,
Respondents.

OPERATION RESCUE,
Petitioners,
v.
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN, INC., ef ai.,
Respondents.

On Writ of Certiorari to the
United States Court of Appeals
for the Seventh Circuit

BRIEF AMICUS CURIAE OF CONSISTENT LIFE,

THE CATHOLIC-LABOR NETWORK, CITIZENS UNITED
FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY,
THE CONFERENCE OF MAJOR SUPERIORS OF MEN,
INTERFAITH WORKER JUSTICE, THE LEADERSHIP
CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS, PEOPLE
FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS,
SOJOURNERS, DANIEL BERRIGIAN, WILL DAVIS
CAMPBELL, CAROL CROSSED, THOMAS GUMBLETON,
KATHY KELLY, RACHEL MACNAIR, HELEN PREJEAN,
MARTIN SHEEN, HOWARD ZINN, STEPHEN ZUNES ET AL
IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS

EDWARD MCGLYNN GAFFNEY, JR.
Counsel of Record

Valparaiso University School
of Law

656 S. Greenwich Street

Valparaiso, IN 46383
(219) 465-7860

[Additional Counsel Listed on Inside Cover]

WiLSON-EPES PRINTING Co., INC. — (202) 789-0096 - WasnincTon, D. C. 20001

oa ~

JOSEPH MATHIAS COSGROVE
Counsel for Martin Sheen
1460 Wyoming Avenue
Forty Fort, PA 18704

(570) 823-9078

JEFFREY S. KERR

General Counsel

People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals, Inc.

501 Font Street

Norfolk VA 23510

(757) 622-7382

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES...........ccccccccesseeereseeneeeneeeees
INTEREST OF THE AMICI CURIAE .........c0ccesceeeeeeeee
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT.............cccccscsssseeseeeneneees
ARGUMENT ..ccccorcccccecsccssccsesonssssosossnesosnnessvessecnsscosensonse

The Hobbs Act and RICO should not be
misused against civil rights protesters by their
Political AUVETSATIES ............scesseeeserseerseerserseeees

A. “Uninhibited, robust, and wide open”
speech on public issues leads frequently to
many forms of protected communicative
activity, including leafleting, picketing,
demonstrations, sit-downs, sit-ins, and

B. First Amendment concerns about the
demonstrations at issue in this case require
the “precision of regulation” mandated in
Claiborne Hardware (1982), not the
sweeping national injunction authorized
under Milk Wagon Drivers (1941)............0«

C. The practical effect of the interpretation of
the Hobbs Act by the court of appeals is to

sideline or trivialize the very crimes—
robbery and extortion—that Congress
deliberately inserted into the statute, aind to
federalize the very crime—coercion—that
Congress deliberately excluded from the

16

il
TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued

ll. The interpretation of the Hobbs Act by the
court of appeals is irreconcilable with the
structure of the United States Constitution and

A. We, the People, retain the right to engage
in vigorous protest against governmental

B. The lower court’s view of the Hobbs Act
and RICO is irreconcilable with the long
history of social protest in this country .......

Ill. The court of appeals improperly perpetuated a
nationwide injunction against unpopular civil
protesters for a full two years after this Court

REFERRER ESS Nae ev SE

21

21

24

26

— ae

ae EP Pe

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
CASES Page
AFL v. Swing, 312 U.S. 321 (1941)......ccccceeeeeeneees 11
Amoco Production Co. v. Village of Gambell,
4BO U.S. $31 (1987) ....ccccceeeeccssccccecccccccseseosseesess 17
Baltimore & Ohio R.R. v. United States, 279 U.S.
TB1,, TBS (1D2D)...000.

OPERATION RESCUE,

Petitioner,
V.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
FOR WOMEN, INC., et al.,

Respondents.

S

On Writs Of Certiorari To The
United States Court Of Appeals
For The Seventh Circuit

S

BRIEF OF THE FEMINIST MAJORITY
FOUNDATION, PLANNED PARENTHOOD
FEDERATION OF AMERICA, INC., MEDICAL
STUDENTS FOR CHOICE, NATIONAL ABORTION
FEDERATION, NATIONAL COALITION OF
ABORTION PROVIDERS, AND PHYSICIANS
FOR REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE AND HEALTH AS
AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS

o

STEVEN G. GEY*

Florida State University College of Law
425 West Jefferson

Tallahassee, FL 32306

(850) 644-5467

*Counsel of Record

COCKLE LAW BRIEF PRINTING CO. (800) 225-6064
OR CALL COLLECT (402) 342-2831

cs

!

|

1 2005 |

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
Interests of Amici Curiae ..................cccecsseseneeeeeeereeeeees 1
a CE IIE sia cccccscccccnsccccsssescsvecosesecccssegncnscs 3
II vo cccccscnnsevitgttinirensetaninitanneieenmmepuicinndinnmnirenis 4

I. The Nationwide Campaign of Terror by Peti-
tioners Against Abortion Providers, Staff, and
Clinics Limits Women’s Already Restricted Ac-

cess to Reproductive Health Care ..................... 4
A. Reproductive Health Care Providers Are
the Targets of Domestic Terrorism............. 5

B. Unchecked Violence Further Restricts
Women’s Already Limited Access to Re-
productive Health Care .............:c:ccccceeeeeees 9

II. The Nationwide Injunction Is Necessary to
Protect Clinics From Violence ....................++0+++ 13

A. PLAN and Operation Rescue Used Violence
to Shut Women’s Health Care Clinics ........... 13

B. Injunctions Are a Well Established, Effec-
tive Method to Ensure Access to Clinics.... 14

C. The Petitioners’ Nationwide Campaign
Requires a Nationwide Response ............... 16

III. Petitioners Violated the Hobbs Act When They
Committed and Threatened Physical Violence
In Order to Obstruct and Delay Commerce In
Reproductive Health Services .................:...:000: 17

A. This Court Has Not Yet Addressed
Whether Threats and Violence Constitute
an Independent Basis for Hobbs Act Li-
TE esieitdicicindabintciciaetiiighnsnagputiiiachiniitiienteiaiatiblags 18

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued
Page
B. The Text of the Hobbs Act Requires Treat-
ing the “Commits or Threatens Physical
Violence” Offense as Distinct from the
“Robbery or Extortion” Offense .................. 20

C. The Legislative History of the Hobbs Act
Supports Treating Threats and Violence as
a Separate Offense from Extortion and
TERRES EE EE SG RE Ree ao 24

ETI S SGC S AEE PRO A ITER ae PIES Le ER 30

ili

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Page
CASES
ASARCO, Inc. v. Kadish, 490 U.S. 605 (1989).................. 21
Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for

a Great Or., 515 U.S. 687 (1995) ...............cceceeeeeeeeeeeenees 21
Barnhart v. Sigmon Coal Co., Inc., 534 U.S. 438

RTS Ra EET GE PRE SON, AS IO A 24
Caminetti v. United States, 242 U.S. 470 (1917).............. 20
Fargo v. Lambs of Christ, 488 N.W.2d 401 (N.D.

SETI cincia;nithniadectanisty die lereteisbenihdalan sss ibicimeiianideeadsier tiligibaltitibatakiee 15
Gonzales v. Raich, 125 S.Ct. 2195 (2005) ................ccceeeee- 29
Madsen v. Women’s Health Ctr., Inc., 512 U.S. 753

NER EET SO DERE Ta eee Ree te 1, 12,14
Ne. Women’s Ctr., Inc. v. McMonagle, 939 F.2d 57

(3d Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 901 (1989)........... 15
NOW v. Scheidler, 510 U.S. 249 (1994) ..................000- 18, 19
NOW v. Scheidler, 91 Fed. Appx. 510 (7th Cir. Feb.

ie I aa 19
NOW v. Scheidler, 267 F.3d 687 (7th Cir. 2001)............... 14
NOW v. Scheidler, No. 86-C788, 1999 U.S. Dist.

LEXIS 11980 (N.D. Il. July 28, 1999).............. 13, 14, 17
Operation Rescue v. Planned Parenthood, 975

RE SHEP Is STII ccicccinicnsicerencinaieeniinteesddemmecenesioptniin 12, 15
Planned Parenthood of Mass. v. Blake, 631 N.E.2d

985 (Mass.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 868 (1994).............. 15

Planned Parenthood of Se. Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S.
a CITED cicieccicteenpuiieccipnsclenshiannnsutsilaadaiaseiuniuthigpendniinaanitinanion 11

iv

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES — Continued

Page
Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette,

Inc. v. Am. Coal. for Life Activists, 41 F. Supp. 2d

1130 (1999), aff’d in part, 290 F.3d 1058 (9th Cir.

SITU vicsssccssdshucictethieseibbinennssonarcioabiopeininieliglgaih asiuieidiinsldia baie wealadaasiaieaii 6
Potter v. United States, 155 U.S. 438 (1894)... 21
Reiter v. Sonotone Corp., 442 U.S. 330 (1979) ...............05 23
Robinson v. Shell Oil Co., 519 U.S. 337 (1997)..............0+ 24
Scheidler v. NOW, 537 U.S. 393 (2003) .......... 19, 20, 25, 29
Stirone v. United States, 361 U.S. 212 (1960)................... 26
United States v. Enmons, 410 U.S. 396 (1973)................. 25
United States v. McMillan, 946 F. Supp. 1254 (S.D.

a Be icsnccntenicncicsinisinnccpincisbetiilabiapestngsiabiidieabidiataiaal 6,7
United States v. Ron Pair Enters., Inc., 489 U.S.

Fe Ge icsinccncitcnccsracntinciiansecsnitiiieeipiieciniiiiamiiainmaaal 20, 23
United States v. Teamsters, 315 U.S. 521 (1942).............. 25
Watts v. United States, 394 U.S. 705 (1969) ..............0000 29
STATUTES
SE STE O BI iicciccicistnntticivsinintenciatsannpnkebidbitianinmensiin 28
BO TEGO OO snceriesvtevintnscrcitnintecessvicvihtigiitenniininariaiiniiaiiel 9
BE ee atriewivcsscntcstnsccnvnnsistitittianehaneliaiabitesiadiidiebichaidl 28
Te BI a cieenersesitsitcntuvtilivicnsticniiaitiitpainasicinniessin 28
le EO hecicnetcinscttesecinscinccessgcictilbbbebeaiimiiesiniinadeiad 27
I Ie venisscincticscenntencnmneiiiticiinanttinesiiasiainiaimmaaamaan 27
We rev iccnridinccnscnivinnnpescingiaictetaiigheabledaasietidemmnanl 27

BB ULB. § BF ccocerescesovcrccscccsscosensnsennbspnscnscssnunsepetanpedocsntes 28

v

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES — Continued

Page
RR RE AN Oe RI ON IS Hea 28
ES SENET ee een Dene Tere 28
I nasa nce Lerten crannies teineaseniinebtniasaneniies 28
ES EAE Vee eer 28
RD ts Oe i cccccscccccsccsnsoterecocessesesenes 19, 21, 22, 25, 26
I a la sil lectrnceatiabede 13, 18
ASS ETERS EC Oe Oe ane ESET ET CD earn CnE eT Om 28
Se I i IT oll cctnmaitnceinadampenbapenetignetaanitetats 28
ES TLE eee TT 28
Anti-Racketeering Act of 1934, ch. 569, 48 Stat.
TTC Re Ta ae PEE 25
Hobbs Anti-Racketeering Act of 1946, ch. 537, 60
tA RS RE eee OT LC 25
OTHER AUTHORITIES

2000 Feminist Majority Foundation National Clinic
Violence Survey Report, 2001 at http://www.
feminist.org/research/cvsurveys/clinic_survey2000.

2002 Feminist Majority Foundation Clinic Violence
Survey Report, 2002 at http://www.feminist.org/

research/cvsurveys/clinic_survey2002.pdf.......... 9, 10,12
91 Cong. Rec. 11902 (1945) ..........cccccecececseeeeeeeneeeeeeeeees 26

Alan Guttmacher Institute, Facts in Brief, Induced
Abortion, May, 2005, at http://www.agi-usa.org/
pubs/fb_induced_abortion. html.......................ccceeecceeeees 10

vi
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES -— Continued

Cindy West, Shooting: Protest, Random Violence?,
Pensacola News J., Aug. 23, 1993 ..............ccccceceeeeeeereeees 5

City of Atlanta v. Operation Rescue, Plaintiffs’ Ex.
926, City of Atlanta v. Operation Rescue, No. D-
61462 (Superior Court of Fulton County, Mar. 28,
RGR aR See RITA TE A pees a 15

Donald Plummer & Cameron McWhirter, Rudolph
Cuts Deal: Olympic Bombing Suspect to Plead

Guilty, Atlanta J.-Const., Apr. 9, 2005 ..0............ccccccesesees 7
Donald Plummer, Olympic Blast Still Haunts

Officials, Atlanta J.-Const., Feb. 23, 2002 ................-00-+ 7
Editorial, Elusive Fugitives, USA Today, June 2,

STITT cigenitcheitipereteahacecettatiastadilescitaei anata aimeaenaitelinineaes 8
Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1993,

S. Rep. No. 103-117 (1993) ...........cccccccseeceeeeenes 10, 16, 17
Hill Sentenced to Death in Clinic Killings,

Baltimore Sun, Dec. 7, 1994 ..................ccccceccecseeeecseeeeeees 6
Jack Warner, Rudolph Indiczed in Four Bombings,

Atlanta J.-Const., Nov. 16, 2000 .00.................ccccceeeeeees 7,8
James Risen & Judy L. Thomas, Wrath of Angels:

The American Abortion War (1998) .............ccc0ssseeeeeeees 5, 7
Joint Appendix, Testimony of Dr. Susan Wicklund .......... 11

Judy Lundstrom Thomas, Manual Instructs Anti-
Abortionists on Bomb-Making, Times-Picayune
(New Orleans), Oct. 2, 1994 ..0.........ccccccccceceeeseneeeeeeeeeeeeees 6

Lawrence B. Finer & Stanley K. Henshaw, Abortion
Incidence and Services in the United States in
2000, 35 Persp. on Sexuai and Reprod. Health
IO SmI: CII och cciicnnnsinncenalansitentpiitiiathemmisiapimetapapsines 10

vii

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES — Continued

Page
Michael Bates, Woman Arrested in the Wounding of
Abortion Doctor, Associated Press, Aug. 20, 1993 .......... 5

Michael Beebe, Kopp Gets Maximum Term,
Amherst Doctor’s Killer to Serve 25 Years to Life,
Buffalo News, May 9, 2008....................ccccccseeeeeseereecenenees 7

NAF, History of Violence—Arsons and Bombings, at
http://www. prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/

NAF, Violence and Disruption Statistics, at http://
www.prochoice.org/pubs_research/publications/down
loads/about_abortion/violence_statistics.pdf .................. 8

NARAL Pro-Choice America, Who Decides?, at http://
www.prochoiceamerica.org/yourstate/whodecides/

trends/issues_low_income.cfim ................c.-sseseeseeeeeseeeees 11
GT ITI TEU ccctrcnscscscsnntnessctveqieentinncenmbinnianianiants 27
gy ae earn 16
TD HE carpscsecsscnstnntenessiggtosntunininimemniinenaaiins 12
ey Bee et ccsecrncsecencsnecnstetstenstedimnmnbintainetiittdeniniaivainds 7
PE RAIN cpnceencscrcanencctictistatmnesndinecenseninatinnneniiants 16
ee Sa i ccnctcnsscsctnrnnesintttinirttientinitinanntitnivaniiolateids 16
ET IIR, li cscicccerintnrnedninsecttinnindiiienieniidabininieabiinisisiladaiiaian 16
ND Bae ctcscccnsrstnceccemensioeereniieieminineninsaniotaseieids 27

Stanley Henshaw, Factors Hindering Access to
Abortion Services, 27 Fam. Plan. Persp. 54
NS Ti cscepiencnssccncmnnsdinadinitenticntepsuindiantincngidunindta 12

Test. of Joseph Scheidler, Trial Tr. ............cc.cssssssseessuesssseeen 6
ai os ll

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES — Continued

Page

Test. of Susan Hill, Trial Tr. ...................:cccccecesceeseseeeseeeers 14
United States General Accounting Office, Abortion
Clinics, Information on the Effectiveness of the
Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, GAO

Report No. GGD-99-2, 13-14 (Nov. 1998).................000 15

1

INTERESTS OF AMICI CURIAE

Amici Curiae’ are organizations dedicated to the
protection and expansion of women’s reproductive health
care. Through the provision of reproductive health care:
services, education, direct clinic assistance, security train-
ing, organizing, advocacy, litigation, training of physicians,
and legislation, these groups have helped reduce the level of
violence faced by health care providers and the women who
are their patients and increase women’s access to quality
reproductive health care.

Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF), a nonprofit
organization, runs the largest clinic defense project in the
nation and has been active in defending clinics throughout
the country from violence. FMF provides security asse is-
ments and training for clinic staffs, operates a clinic
violence hotline and emergency alert warning system,
tracks incidences of violence against women’s health care
clinics, and conducts a periodic social science survey of the
extent of violence committed against abortion providers.
The President of FMF, Eleanor Smeal, was the President
of the National Organization for Women (NOW) when
NOW began this litigation. FMF actively pursues legal
protection for reproductive health services and provided
legal counsel for Respondent Women’s Health Center in
Madsen v. Women’s Health Ctr., Inc., 512 U.S. 753 (1994).

Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.
(PPFA), a New York nonprofit corporation, is the world’s

' Pursuant to Rule 37.6, counsel for amici state that no counsel for
a party authored this brief, in whole or in part, and that no person,
other than amici, their members, or their counsel, made a monetary
contribution to the preparation and submission of the brief. All parties
have consented to the filing of this brief.

oldest and largest voluntary reproductive health care organi-
zation. PPFA provides leadership to 121 autonomous affili-
ates that manage approximately 800 medical centers in all
50 states and the District of Columbia, providing a wide
range of reproductive health education and medical services
to nearly five million women and men a year. PPFA’s affili-
ates, staff, and patients have been the targets of hundreds of
illegal violent attacks by anti-abortion extremists—attacks
ranging from murder and arson, to illegal invasions, butyric
acid attacks, fake anthrax attacks, etc. PPFA and its affili-
ates are committed to taking every possible step within the
bounds of the law to protect the safety of their patients, staff,
and facilities and thus are profoundly concerned that the

Medical Students for Choice (MSFC) is an advo-
cacy organization with nearly 7,000 medical student
members in medical schools across the United States and
Canada. Its mission is to ensure that women receive the
full range of reproductive health care by working to make
reproductive health care a part of standard medical
education and residency training. One of the greatest
barriers to safe and legal abortion today is the absence of
trained providers. Medical Students for Choice members,
as many physicians have before them, face realistic fears
_ for their personal safety because of deliberate targeting by

the petitioners.

National Abortion Federation (NAF), a nonprofit
organization founded in 1977, is the professional association
of abortion providers in North America. Its members include
over 400 nonprofit and private clinics, women’s health
centers, hospitals, and private physicians’ offices in 47 states.
NAF’s members care for over half of women who choose
abortion in the United States each year. NAF acts as an

3

advocate for provider protection with all levels of law
enforcement; issues timely information alerts and updates
about anti-choice violence; maintains statistics on anti-choice
violence and a data bank on militant anti-choice groups and
individuals; and conducts on-site security assessments and
training for clinic staff to assist with safety concerns.

Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
(PRCH) is the voice of pro-choice physicians. A national
nonprofit, the mission of PRCH is to enable concerned
physicians to take a more active and visible role in support
of universal reproductive health. PRCH is committed to
ensuring that all people have the knowledge, access to
quality services, and freedom of choice to make their own
reproductive health decisions. PRCH works to support
abortion providers and other pro-choice physicians who are
faced with violence and harassment because of their sup-
port of access to comprehensive reproductive health care.

The National Coalition of Abortion Providers
(NCAP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping
the nearly 150 independent abortion provider member
clinics better meet the needs of their communities. NCAP
members have been innovative leaders in providing
quality medical care. Abortion is one of the safest proce-
dures performed today because of their skills, commit-
ment, and understanding.

«

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

In the mid-1980’s, Joseph Scheidler and his associates
(petitioners) began a campaign to terrorize abortion
providers, women’s health care clinic staff, and patients.
After a full trial, a jury found that petitioners had engaged
in four “acts or threats of physical violence to any person

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385016_0087%3A12. Public record. Not legal advice.