Does the Hobbs Act Only Bar Violence and Threats of Violence Connected to Robbery or Extortion?
Scheidler et al. v. National Organization for Women, Inc. et al. Docket No. 04-1244 and Operation Rescue v. National Organization for Women, Inc. et al. Docket No. 04-1352 From: The Seventh Circuit Case at a Glance The lawsuit underlying this case began in 1986, when NOW charged that, in the course of blockading abortion clinics, Operation Rescue and other anti-abortion groups were violating the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The case has been to the Supreme Court twice before; this time the Court has agreed to consider whether the plaintiffs could establish the necessary pattern of “predicate” crimes for RICO purposes by showing that the defendants had interfered with commerce through threats or violence unrelated to robbery or extortion. • Previewed by Martha Davis, an associate professor at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts.
