Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Supreme Court decision

As I mentioned in my prediction some months ago, in order to appreciate the issues before the Supreme Court in the case decided today you have to put out of your mind the fact that the petitioner was Operation Rescue and its operatives. The Court today reversed NOW's victory against Operation Rescue, based on the conclusion that the Hobbs Act's prohibition of "extortion" -- which is the thing that Operation Rescue was being accused of violating -- doesn't apply to attempts to shut down a business as contrasted with attempts to take the business over. (This is a summary and a paraphrase; if you're thinking of skirting the line on extortion, be sure to read the opinion for yourself rather than relying on this summary). The good news is that (a) my prediction of a reversal was correct; and (b) the court could have reversed in either of two ways (see my prediction, linked above) and they chose the one with which I happen to agree.

posted by sam 1:22 PM 0 comments

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