Scheidler v. National Organization for Women (2006)

Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued November 30, 2005 Decided February 28, 2006
Full case name	Joseph Scheidler, et al. v. National Organization for Women, Inc., et al.
Citations	547 U.S. 9 (more) 126 S. Ct. 1264; 164 L. Ed. 2d 10; 2006 U.S. LEXIS 2022; 74 U.S.L.W. 4149; 19 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 120
Case history
Prior	Complaint dismissed, 765 F. Supp. 937 (N.D. Ill. 1991); affirmed, 968 F.2d 612 (7th Cir. 1992); rehearing denied, 7th Cir., Aug. 4, 1992; cert. granted, 508 U.S. 971 (1994); reversed, National Organization for Women, Inc. v. Scheidler, 510 U.S. 249 (1994); rehearing denied, 510 U.S. 1215 (1994); remanded, 25 F.3d 1053 (7th Cir. 1994); complaint stricken in part, dismissed as to certain defendants; 897 F.Supp. 1047 (N.D. Ill. 1995); summary judgment granted in part to defendants, N.D. Ill. Sept. 23, 1997; permanent injunction granted to plaintiffs, N.D. Ill. July 19, 1999; affirmed, 267 F.3d 687 (7th Cir. 2001); rehearing denied, 7th Cir., Oct. 29, 2001; cert. granted, 535 U.S. 1016 (2002); reversed and remanded, Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, 537 U.S. 393 (2003); remanded, 91 Fed. Appx. 510 (7th Cir. 2004); rehearing denied, 396 F.3d 807 (7th Cir. 2005); cert. granted, 545 U.S. 1151 (2005).
Holding
The Hobbs Act did not apply to the use of violence to block access to abortion clinics, because physical violence unrelated to robbery or extortion falls outside the Act's scope. Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices John P. Stevens · Antonin Scalia Anthony Kennedy · David Souter Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Case opinion
Majority	Breyer, joined by Roberts, Stevens, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg
Alito took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
18 U.S.C. § 1951 (Hobbs Act)

Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, 547 U.S. 9 (2006), was a lengthy and high-profile U.S. legal case interpreting and applying the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO): a law originally drafted to combat the mafia and organized crime, the Hobbs Act: an anti-extortion law prohibiting interference with commerce by violence or threat of violence,^[1] and the Travel Act: a law prohibiting interstate travel in support of racketeering.^[2]