Columbus, OH – On Monday, 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 in an effort to silence organizations with whom the state disagrees.

“New Jersey seems to be trying to harass and intimidate organizations and chill the First Amendment-protected free speech rights of Americans by demanding the private and constitutionally-protected information of donors,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. “If the New Jersey attorney general can do this to First Choice, he can and will do it to others with whom he 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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