Joseph Scheidler, Andrew Scholberg, Timothy Murphy, and the Pro-Life Action League
Petitioners
Alan Untereiner, Counsel of RecordDuring the 1980s and early 1990s, Andrew Scheidler, Andrew Scholberg, Timothy Murphy, and the Pro-Life Action League staged sit-ins and political protests at abortion clinics around the United States. In 1986, the National Organization for Women (NOW) led a civil lawsuit against the protesters under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), alleging that they engaged in extortion by encouraging illegal activities during these protests as part of a criminal enterprise called the Pro-life Action Network (PLAN). Scheidler and his associates initially objected to the suit on the grounds that RICO was never intended to…
