Columbus, OH – On Wednesday, The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to quash a New Jersey attorney general’s subpoena served on First Choice Women’s Resource Centers demanding the center turn over the private and constitutionally protected information of its donors.

“New Jersey’s attorney general is using his power as the state’s highest law-enforcement official to take actions that will silence speech,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. “The issuance of the subpoena alone severely chills free speech and weaponizes the civil litigation process against organizations with whom New Jersey disagrees.”

Without substantive evidence of wrongdoing, the New Jersey attorney general issued a wide-ranging subpoena to First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, demanding it identify its donors and produce up to 10 years of internal, confidential documents. As The Buckeye Institute argues in its brief, “the issuance of this subpoena—even if it is ultimately quashed—severely chills First Amendment rights because individuals will now fear that their charitable contributions to organizations engaged in controversial issues will be subjected to government scrutiny and possible, if not likely, retaliation.”

Alliance Defending Freedom represents First Choice Women’s Resource Centers.

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