Legal Issue(s): NA
Case Description
In February, Christian Legal Society filed an amici curiae brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin case.
At issue is the New Jersey Attorney General’s abusive use of state subpoenas to harass small, nonprofit and religious pro-life organizations. These “investigations” are without reasonable cause, chill their First Amendment speech and association rights, including through potentially exposing donor lists, all while burdening First Choice with significant costs and time that detract from carrying out their mission.
There are constitutional issues in play, too. If the NJ AG wins—which will happen if the Supreme Court does not take the case—the state AG will be able to selectively use its investigative tools against groups it disfavors, seeking to silence them and siphon off their resources. Effectively, state AGs can harass their target without triggering federal constitutional review which deprives the disfavored organization of a way to defend against the burdening of its free exercise rights.
Such targeting in fact raises important Federal constitutional questions. Federal courts—where judges typically have more expertise in deciding issues related to free exercise of religion and expressive association—may never get to hear them.
This case is very important to CLS’ own client, Gateway Pregnancy Center of New Jersey, which currently holds a similarly abusive subpoena from the same AG. While there are some differences in the two cases, the First Choice case may directly impact the legal outcome for Gateway’s subpoena as well.
