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Are Frivolous Lawsuits Extortionate?

Today the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an extremely interesting civil RICO case.  Bixler v. Mineral Energy and Technology Corporation (METCO) (CA10) (here).  While the entire case is worth reading, one point of intellectual dishonesty needs highlighted:Plaintiffs assert that defendants? litigation tactics wereextortionate, with the purpose of coercing them to accept defendants? allegedlyfraudulent acts. We have refused to ?recogniz[e] abusive litigation as a form ofextortion [because doing so] would subject almost any unsuccessful lawsuit to a colorable extortion (and often a RICO) claim.? Slip op. at 11-12.  The panel cited Deck v. Engineered Laminates, 349 F.3d 1253,1257 (10th Cir. 2003) (here), which contained this discussion:Although the alleged conduct is certainly reprehensible, it does not in itself constitute extortion under § 1951...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on February 22, 2010 (boomark / email).