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QUESTION: Federal Anti-rioting cases since 1968

Submitted by jenna on Sun, 10/25/2009 - 7:58pm
question / pregunta: 

How many Federal Anti-rioting (USC Title 18, Chapter 102 18USC102) cases have been prosecuted since it was used against the Chicago 8 in 1968?

Answers

Answer posted by: PDL

A search for cases on Lexis (which is a subscription database) that cite the statute from 1969- 2009 is 70, You will have to look at each case to determine if anyone was actually prosecuted. This same list can be found using Shedards citators using the citation 18 U.S.C. 2101 You can go to any public law library and find Shepards and the cases in reporters . A complete list of NYS Unified Court System Public Access Law Libraries is
available at www.nycourts.gov/lawlibraries/publicaccess.shtml

Alt law www.altlaw.org
and Find law www.findlaw.com
may have some or many of the cases but they arent authoritative sources.

Answer posted by: radref

I talked with a law library colleague about this question. The answer is not as cut and dried as the answer "70" above makes it seem. The LexisNexis results are basically how many cases cited 18 USC 2101, not how many people were charged under 18USC2101. Additionally, Lexis results have some duplication as the same case may have been tried at several different levels (all the way up to the Supreme Court) and cited the same law each time. This is a subtle but critical difference. My law library colleague said there's no way to really do that search directly using the current tools available (LexisNexis and WestLaw). Looking at each case in depth is really the only way to get that number. I've attached the searches for 18USC2101 (rioting) and 18USC2102 (definitions).

Please let radref know if you've got other questions, or you can visit the NYC public law library (map). FYI There are public law libraries across the country with knowledgeable reference librarians.