The Supreme Court has issued a unanimous 9-0 ruling allowing First Choice Women’s Resource Centers to bring its First Amendment challenge against New Jersey’s attorney general to federal court.
The case began when then-Attorney General Matthew Platkin worked with Planned Parenthood to draft a consumer alert warning New Jerseyans against using pregnancy resource centers. Platkin then launched a civil investigation into First Choice for alleged violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act — with no evidence of wrongdoing and no complaints filed against the organization.
Platkin demanded ten years’ worth of documents and records, including the identities of First Choice’s donors. First Choice provided 2,300 pages of documents. When Platkin sought more, Alliance Defending Freedom filed suit in federal court. Platkin countersued in state court to compel further disclosure. Lower federal courts ruled that First Choice had to litigate its constitutional claims in state court first.
Justice Neil Gorsuch authored the unanimous opinion, writing: “Since the 1950s, this Court has confronted one official demand after another like the Attorney General’s. Over and again, we have held those demands burden the exercise of First Amendment rights.” On the demand for donor identities, Gorsuch wrote: “An official demand for private donor information is enough to discourage reasonable individuals from associating with a group.”
ADF Senior Counsel Erin Hawley stated: “New Jersey’s attorney general targeted First Choice — a ministry that provides parenting classes, free ultrasounds, baby clothes, and more to its community — simply because of its pro-life views. That is blatantly unconstitutional.”
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