Thursday March 29, 2001

US APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS RULING WHICH ACCUSED PRO-LIFERS OF RACKETEERING

SAN FRANCISCO, Mar 29, 2001 (LSN.ca) - Pro-life groups were cleared yesterday of one of the largest lawsuits awarded in the United States. Abortionists and pro-abortion groups were awarded $109 million in 1999 in a ruling, which attacked pro-lifers using US racketeering laws.

The case involved a campaign initiated by several pro-life individuals which sought information on abortionists who were suspected of injuring patients, posters drawn up for the information gathering campaign looked like "wanted" posters and gave rise to the lawsuit by Planned Parenthood and other abortionists. While the former ruling suggested the posters incited violence against the abortionists, the case involved no threats whatsoever.

Two years into the case pro-abortion lawyers brought in as evidence the Nuremberg Files website which lists the names and addresses of abortionists. However, the fact that the website was used only for sensationalism was clear considering Neal Horsley, the creator of the website, was not even a defendant in the suit.

"If defendants threatened to commit violent acts, by working alone or with others, then their (works) could properly support the verdict," Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski wrote in the ruling yesterday. "But if their (works) merely encouraged unrelated terrorists, then their words are protected by the First Amendment."

See the USA today coverage at:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-03-28-abortion-threat-site.htm

A pdf copy of the Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition of Life Activists ruling is on line at:
http://www.interlife.org/9thcircuit.pdf

URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/mar/01032902.html

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