Gabriella Victoria Oropesa v. United States

This case concerns the government’s use of the Free Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, 18 U.S.C. § 248, as the statutory predicate for an indictment alleging a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 241, the criminal conspiracy-againstrights statute. Enacted in 1870, Section 241 provides a criminal action against individuals who violate “any right or privilege secured to [citizens] by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” Its civil counterpart, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, quite similarly provides private plaintiffs a civil action to remedy the deprivation of any “rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws.” Beginning with Middlesex County Sewerage Authority v. National Sea Clammers Association, 453 U.S. 1 (1981), and continuing through City of Rancho Palos Verdes v. Abrams, 544 U.S. 113 (2005), this Court has recognized an important limitation on the term “laws” as it appears in Section 1983, excluding statutes that contain their own comprehensive enforcement schemes. This Court has not yet had occasion to determine whether this important limitation on the Section 1983 cause of action - the exclusion of statutes containing their own comprehensive enforcement schemes - also applies to the criminal “laws” enforceable by Section 241. The questions presented are: 1. Whether criminal statutes containing their own comprehensive enforcement provisions and penalties are, as in Section 1983, excluded from serving as predicate “laws” for additional criminal enforcement under Section 241.