Remedies
Professor Cohen
Final Exam
Summer 2003

 Instructions

1. This is a closed book exam. This exam is worth 50% of your grade for this course.



2. You have one hour and 30 minutes (1.5 hours) to complete this exam.



3. Part I consists of 16 Multiple Choice questions.



4. Using a #2 pencil, mark your answers on the Parscore answer sheet provided to you. Darken the letter corresponding to the correct answer on the Parscore answer sheet. If you change your answer, please be sure your erasures are complete. The exam will be scored by a machine and any ambiguities will be counted as a wrong answer.



5. You may not begin Part II (Essay) until you complete the Multiple Choice and put those questions and Parscore in your exam envelope. You may not return to Part I once you have begun Part II.



6. Part II consists of one (1) essay question.



7. Please write your essay on every other page of the Bluebook(s) provided to you. Double space your work and write legibly. Succinctness, organization and clarity will count significantly towards your grade.



8. Write your exam number on your exam envelope, all used Bluebooks, your Parscore answer sheet, at the top of this exam packet and any other exam materials used. Do not use your name, student ID number or Social Security Number on any exam materials.



9. At the conclusion of the exam, return all exam materials to the exam envelope and submit it to the proctor. If materials are not included, your exam may not be graded. Do not seal the envelope.

Good Luck!

PART II: ESSAY

This case arises out of a series of anti-abortion protests by Operation Rescue and its supporters (hereinafter "Operation Rescue" or "appellants") involving physical blockades of clinics providing abortion services. Such blockades, described as "rescues" by Operation Rescue, had been conducted in the District of Columbia, surrounding Virginia and Maryland communities, and other metropolitan areas throughout the country dating back at least to 1998. Because these blockades physically prevent ingress to and egress from clinics for many hours or even day-long periods, patients, physicians, and medical staff are prevented from receiving or providing medical and counseling services, creating a risk of physical or mental harm to patients. In addition, some "rescues" have involved trespass on, and damage to, clinic property.

The "rescues" that precipitated this case took place at clinics in Washington, D.C. on November 10-12 and 18-20, 1999, despite a preliminary injunction prohibiting the blocking of access to clinics.

In anticipation of "rescues" planned for November 11, 1999, the National Organization for Women ("NOW"), its affiliates, and several clinics in the District of Columbia brought an action on October 27, 1999, seeking injunctive relief in federal district court to prohibit the blockading of the clinics. Their complaint alleged violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1985 (3) (conspiracy to violate plaintiffs' constitutional rights to travel and to privacy), and included pendent District of Columbia claims of trespass, public nuisance, and tortuous interference with business relationships.

The district court issued a preliminary injunction on November 8, 1999.

On July 31, 2000, the district court cited Operation Rescue and various individuals for civil contempt based on their actions in connection with the November 1999 blockades, which the court found to be in violation of the preliminary injunction. The district court assessed fines to compensate the clinics for damages resulting from interference with their business and destruction of their property, against Operation Rescue, Clifford Gannett, Joseph Foreman, Susan Odom, and Michael McMonagle, jointly and severally, $ 1,680 for damages to the Hillcrest Clinic, $ 533 for damages to the Capitol Women's Center, and $ 3,800 for damages to the Washington Surgi-Clinic. The district court also established a schedule of escalating prospective fines for continued violations of the injunction, payable to the clinics; the court characterized these contempt sanctions as "coercive" and therefore civil in nature.

Operation Rescue has taken an interim appeal from the decision of the trial court. It argues: 1. That there were insufficient grounds for issuance of the preliminary injunction, and 2. That these should have been criminal contempts and therefore the Court denied the procedural rights attendant thereto. You are a clerk for the appellate judge to whom the case has been assigned, and have been asked to prepare a clear, concise memo on the rules of preliminary injunctions and civil/criminal contempts. Please do so.

End of Exam