Troy Newman v. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., et al.

In a classic case of the “abortion distortion,” Planned Parenthood repackaged its PR black-eye over selling aborted baby parts into a court-approved RICO victory. This Court should grant review. Petitioner Troy Newman is a former board member of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), which conducted an undercover investigation of fetal tissue trafficking. Investigators videotaped conversations at various locations. In July 2015, CMP published a series of videos, spurring two Congressional investigations that resulted in criminal and regulatory referrals concerning the tissue trafficking. Respondents sued Petitioner and his CoDefendants, alleging various claims, including civil RICO. A jury found in Respondents’ favor, and the district court rejected Petitioners’ legal defenses. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the judgment in large part, including as to RICO. The Ninth Circuit’s RICO decision conflicts with the precedents of this Court and other courts concerning predicate acts, pattern of racketeering activity, and proximate cause. The questions presented are: 1. Whether Respondents failed to establish a pattern of RICO predicate acts where a. the alleged pattern consisted of the production and transfer of false IDs that was completed before the launch of the undercover investigation, and b. the false IDs were produced and transferred entirely intrastate, while the relevant