Series VII. LEGAL: NOW v. SCHEIDLER, 1977-2009 (#137.7-138.8, 139.9-272.12, 448.1-458.14, PD.3-PD.18, E.2-E.44)
Scope and Contents
Series VII, LEGAL: NOW v. SCHEIDLER, 1977-2009 (#137.7-138.8, 139.9-272.12, 448.1-458.14, PD.3-PD.18, E.2-E.44), contains records of the court case filed by NOW in 1986, in an attempt to use federal antitrust and racketeering laws to bar pro-life protesters from blocking entrances to women's health care clinics providing abortion services. Included are correspondence, legal papers and briefs, deposition and trial transcripts, NOW's background research on pro-life groups and their tactics, documents relating to protests at abortion clinics, and other material documenting the pro-life movement in America during the 1980s and 1990s. Initially NOW named pro-life activist Joseph Scheidler and other members of his Pro-Life Action League as the main defendants, but Randall Terry and his group Operation Rescue were added to the lawsuit in 1988. NOW's lawyers sought to prove that there was a conspiracy among pro-life activists and groups to restrict access to clinics. In part because of the novel attempt to apply antitrust and racketeering laws to such behavior, the court case continued for many years, with multiple decisions of the Illinois District Court appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. The case went to trial in the District Court in 1998, and a jury ruled in favor of NOW. Appeals continued until 2006, when the Supreme Court ruled that NOW had failed to adequately prove its case under the racketeering (RICO) statutes.
The majority of material in this series originated with the office of Fay Clayton, a Chicago lawyer with the firm Kahn Robinson Curley & Clayton, who represented NOW in the litigation beginning in 1989. Clayton's office cleared all material in this series for potential confidentiality restrictions. Other NOW v. Scheidler material may be found in MC 496; there is substantial duplication of pleadings and deposition transcripts between the two collections. Complete newsletters found throughout the series were removed and will be cataloged by the Library's book division. Additional material received as electronic files will be reformatted at some future date for inclusion in this series. In April 2015, additional material received from the offices of attorney Fay Clayton was added to this series. This material is housed in Boxes #448 through 458. All other file remain in the same order. Folders are listed in intellectual, not numerical, order. The series has been arranged in five subseries by basic document purpose.
Dates
- Creation: 1970-2011
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Written permission of the National Organization for Women is required for materials less than 20 years old, with the exception of publications, mailings, press releases, clippings, publicity, awards, and other documents made generally available to the public and to wider NOW membership, which are open. Records of the NOW political action committees and the NOW Foundation are closed pending negotiations. Additionally, the following materials are closed as per the agreement between NOW and the Schlesinger Library:
- Board minutes and related materials: closed 20 years
- Court cases, excluding public documents (briefs, findings, opinions, etc.): closed 20 years
- Donation records: closed 50 years
- Any records where access to which is deemed by library staff to constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy: closed until the likely death of the individual concerned
- Financial records: closed 50 years
- Grievances filed against NOW, NOW chapters, or individuals: closed 50 years
- Membership records that disclose individual names: closed 50 years
As of December 2015, access to materials that are more than 20 years old no longer require written permission of the National Organization for Women.
Extent
202.45 linear feet ((438 file boxes, 5 half file boxes, 10 folio boxes, 5 card file boxes) plus 2 folio+ folders, 2 oversize folders, 1 supersize folder, 43 photograph folders, 484 slides, 140 objects, electronic records)Creator
- From the Collection: National Organization for Women (Organization)
Repository Details
Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository
The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.