Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc., 537 U.S. 393, 19 (2003)

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Cite as: 537 U. S. 393 (2003)

Ginsburg, J., concurring

Because all of the predicate acts supporting the jury's finding of a RICO violation must be reversed, the judgment that petitioners violated RICO must also be reversed. Without an underlying RICO violation, the injunction issued by the District Court must necessarily be vacated. We therefore need not address the second question presented— whether a private plaintiff in a civil RICO action is entitled to injunctive relief under 18 U. S. C. § 1964.

The judgment of the Court of Appeals is accordingly

Reversed.

Justice Ginsburg, with whom Justice Breyer joins, concurring.

I join the Court's opinion, persuaded that the Seventh Circuit's decision accords undue breadth to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO or Act). As Justice Stevens recognizes, "Congress has enacted specific legislation responsive to the concerns that gave rise to these cases." Post, at 417 (dissenting opinion). In the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994, 18 U. S. C. § 248, Congress crafted a statutory response that homes in on the problem of criminal activity at health care facilities. See ante, at 404-405, and n. 9 (noting petitioners' acknowledgment that at least some of the protesters' conduct was criminal, and observing that "[t]he crime of coercion [a separate, and lesser, offense than extortion] more accurately describes the nature of petitioners' actions"). Thus, the principal effect of a decision against petitioners here would have been on other cases pursued under RICO.*

RICO, which empowers both prosecutors and private enforcers, imposes severe criminal penalties and hefty civil lia*At oral argument, the Government was asked: "[D]o you agree that your interpretation would have been applicable to the civil rights sit-ins?" Tr. of Oral Arg. 25. The Solicitor General responded: "Under some circumstances, it could have if illegal force or threats were used to prevent a business from operating." Ibid.

411

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