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Catholic World News News Feature

US federal judge ends 21-year-old legal case against pro-life leaders May 09, 2007

A federal judge in Chicago has handed down a final ruling in favor of pro-life defendants in the landmark case of NOW v. Scheidler, formally ending an epic court battle that lasted nearly 21 years and three times came before the US Supreme Court.

Judge David Coar issued a final judgment on May 8, dismissing the charges brought against pro-life activists by the National Organization for Women under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act in June 1986.

"I've waited twenty-one years for this news!" said Joseph Scheidler, national director of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League. "I am no longer a federal racketeer!" Scheidler was one of a group of named defendants in the case, which also included Randall Terry, the founder of Operation Rescue. If NOW had won the case, the defendants would have been stripped of all their financial assets, including their homes, in order to pay the enormous legal judgment NOW had sought.

In February 2003, the US Supreme Court rule that the RICO law could not be properly applied to pro-life activists, in the absence of any clear evidence of criminal intent. But the plaintiffs persisted with the case, forcing another Supreme Court confrontation. In February 2006 the high court ruled unanimously for the defendants, sending NOW v. Scheidler back to lower courts for the final judgment that was issued on May 8.