Mark Krikorian's Center for Immigration Studies Sues SPLC Under RICO Act

They're alleging wire fraud and RICO violations that amount to racketeering, all used with an eye to harassing those with non-NPC political opinions.

One of the most prominent groups advocating for stricter immigration went to court Wednesday to demand a judge order the Southern Poverty Law Center to stop labeling it a "hate group," accusing the self-described watchdog of running an illegal racket to silence political opponents.

The Center for Immigration Studies says the SPLC's accusations that it is racist and anti-immigrant are wrong and have cost the nonprofit support and financial backing by scaring people away from doing business with the center.

The center brought its challenge to U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by filing a civil complaint under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act against SPLC President Richard Cohen and Heidi Beirich, who runs the group’s Hatewatch blog.

Mark Krikorian, the Center for Immigration Studies executive director, says his organization doesn’t meet the SPLC’s definition of a hate group and the Alabama-based watchdog knows it but persists anyway -- which he said was evidence of the racket.

Other groups use the SPLC list to deplatform people, which has resulted in CIS losing donations.

But CIS isn't a racist group even under the SPLC's broad definition, as "immigrant" is not a race.

...

Because it doesn’t meet the SPLC's definition of a hate group yet the SPLC uses that label online, the center said, it amounts to wire fraud in violation of RICO.

The center says it wants a judge to award damages and order the SPLC to remove the "hate" label, and it wants the SPLC to affirmatively state on its website "that CIS is not a hate group."

RICO has been used to settle other thorny political clashes, including by the National Organization for Women, which in the 1980s and 1990s filed civil RICO claims against pro-life activists at abortion clinics.

I doubt that this will work, but I don't mind visiting a fraction of the harassment on them that they inflict on others.

posted by Ace of Spades at 01:09 PM

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