Cite as: 506 U. S. 263 (1993)
Stevens, J., dissenting
ples of statutory construction readily provide affirmative answers to these questions.
It is unfortunate that the Court has analyzed this case as though it presented an abstract question of logical deduction rather than a question concerning the exercise and allocation of power in our federal system of government. The Court ignores the obvious (and entirely constitutional) congressional intent behind § 1985(3) to protect this Nation's citizens from what amounts to the theft of their constitutional rights by organized and violent mobs across the country.
The importance of the issue warrants a full statement of the facts found by the District Court before reaching the decisive questions in this case.
I
Petitioners are dedicated to a cause that they profoundly believe is far more important than mere obedience to the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia or the police power of its cities. To achieve their goals, the individual petitioners "have agreed and combined with one another and with defendant Operation Rescue to organize, coordinate and participate in 'rescue' demonstrations at abortion clinics in various parts of the country, including the Washington metropolitan area. The purpose of these 'rescue' demonstrations is to disrupt operations at the target clinic and indeed ultimately to cause the clinic to cease operations entirely." 3
The scope of petitioners' conspiracy is nationwide; it far exceeds the bounds or jurisdiction of any one State. They have blockaded clinics across the country, and their activities have been enjoined in New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, Connecticut, California, Kansas, and Nevada, as well as the
F. Supp. 1168 (CD Cal. 1989); and Lucero v. Operation Rescue of Birmingham, 772 F. Supp. 1193 (ND Ala. 1991).
3 National Organization for Women v. Operation Rescue, 726 F. Supp., at 1488.
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