On Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, America’s Future along with four other nonprofit organizations jointly submitted a Motion for Leave to File an Amicus brief to the Alabama Middle District Court – Northern Division in Eknes-Tucker, et al. v Ivey, in her official capacity as Governor of the State of Alabama, No. 2:22-cv-00184 (2022) a.k.a. Boe v Marshall, No. 2:22-cv-00184 (2022).
For background, plaintiffs in this case are challenging the constitutionality of an Alabama state law entitled “Alabama Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act,” also known as “VCAP,” (SB 184 and HB 266) which prohibits certain “medical” procedures that the state had determined to be harmful to minors.
Now in the discovery phase of litigation, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a subpoena to Eagle Forum of Alabama (EFA), a nonprofit organization and a non-party to the case. The Amicus brief supports the EFA’s motion to quash the subpoena based on First Amendment rights.
As more fully described in our brief, the DOJ’s subpoena is, at best, overbroad and, at worst, an abusive tactic constituting a new type of threat to constitutionally protected liberties. Not only does this DOJ subpoena seek disclosure of proprietary confidential information from a nonparty organization, but it also inherently seeks disclosure of “personally identifiable information” (PII) of all those EFA was in contact with regarding VCAP. The First Amendment guarantees rights of assembly, association, free press and free speech among others. On the flipside, the First Amendment encompasses the inverse of each – a right to retreat to your home in seclusion, the right to not associate with groups you disagree with and the right to be silent, anonymous, and secluded.
America’s Future steadfastly argues the DOJ’s subpoena to the EFA is vexatious and overburdensome. Worse still, the subpoena is an imminent threat to the liberties and protections guaranteed by the First Amendment.
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