United States v. Dykes
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
24 Fed. Appx. 718 (2001)
Isabel Dykes (defendant), a British citizen employed on a J-1 visa by a San Francisco school, was terminated after a dispute, and the school told her the termination would void her visa. Dykes and her boyfriend sent the school a letter accusing it of "illegal methods" and "illegal extremes" used against foreign teachers, threatening to send the letter to British and French authorities and the media unless the school apologized and paid her $40,000 in back salary plus $20,000 in damages. Dykes was charged with and convicted of blackmail under 18 U.S.C. § 873, and she appealed.
Whether a defendant violates the federal blackmail statute, 18 U.S.C. § 873, by threatening to expose a violation of federal law unless given a thing of value.