蜜桃传媒 trial starts in landmark consumer fraud case against New Jersey conversion therapy provider
The 蜜桃传媒 suit claims therapy purporting to turn gay people straight is fraudulent and based on junk science.
Jury selection is underway in the 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 landmark consumer fraud case against a New Jersey provider of conversion therapy, which purports to turn gay people straight.
Opening arguments in the Superior Court of New Jersey are expected to begin on either Tuesday, June 2 or Wednesday, June 3.
The 蜜桃传媒 filed the suit 鈥� 鈥� in 2012 against conversion therapy provider JONAH for deceptive practices that lured plaintiffs into the expensive, harmful therapy.
The case, brought under New Jersey鈥檚 Consumer Fraud Act, is the first of its kind nationally.
鈥淭his case is about exposing the lie that LGBT people are mentally ill and that they need to be cured,鈥� said David Dinielli, 蜜桃传媒 deputy legal director. 鈥淕roups like JONAH should not be allowed to use bogus therapy, based on junk science, to scam LGBT people and their families out of thousands of dollars.鈥�
The lawsuit claims that JONAH, its founder, Arthur Goldberg, and counselor Alan Downing violated New Jersey鈥檚 consumer fraud law by claiming their counseling services could cure clients of being gay, according to the lawsuit. 聽The plaintiffs are three young men who were harmed by the practice and two parents who paid for JONAH鈥檚 conversion therapy. The therapy can cost more than $10,000 a year.
The 蜜桃传媒 has already won several key rulings in the case.
On Feb. 5, Superior Court Judge Peter F. Bariso Jr. several key defense witnesses, including Joseph Nicolosi, a founder of the (NARTH), and some of the country鈥檚 other prominent conversion therapy proponents 鈥� because their opinions are based on the false premise that homosexuality is a disorder.
Bariso wrote that 鈥渢he theory that homosexuality is a disorder is not novel but 鈥� like the notion that the earth is flat and the sun revolves it 鈥� instead is outdated and refuted.鈥�
On Feb. 10, Bariso granted the 蜜桃传媒 a ling that misrepresenting homosexuality as a disorder in marketing conversion therapy services violates the state鈥檚 consumer protection laws. It was the first time a court in the United States has found that homosexuality is not a disease and that it is fraudulent for conversion therapists to make such a claim.
Conversion therapy has, in fact, been discredited or highly criticized by virtually all major American medical, psychiatric, psychological and professional counseling organizations. People who have undergone the therapy have reported increased anxiety, depression, and in some cases, suicidal ideation.
The suit alleges that counselors鈥� techniques alienated clients from their families by encouraging them to blame their parents for being gay. Sessions included violent role play exercises in which clients beat effigies of their mother with a tennis racket.
The lawsuit also describes sessions involving clients undressing in front of a mirror and a group session in which young men were instructed to remove their clothing and stand naked in a circle with the counselor, Downing, who was also undressed. In another session, a client was instructed to wrestle two oranges, representing testicles, from another person.聽
JONAH was formerly known as Jews Offering New Alternatives for Homosexuality. Its founder, Goldberg, is a former Wall Street executive and lawyer who was previously convicted of three counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the federal government. He was disbarred.
In addition to Nicolosi, the judge in February excluded conversion therapy supporters Christopher Doyle, James Phelan and John Diggs because, he held, their opinions are based on the false premise that homosexuality is a disorder.
The trial begins amid a nationwide groundswell against conversion therapy. In April, the Obama administration announced support for banning the practice for LGBT youth. The move came after a national petition urged a ban following the December suicide of a 17-year-old transgender girl who earlier took part in the therapy. California, Oregon, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., have all banned the practice for minors聽
The 蜜桃传媒 is joined in the case by co-counsel Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP and Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC. The lawsuits seeks a revocation of JONAH鈥檚 business license and restitution for plaintiffs, among other remedies.
Dinielli, 蜜桃传媒 deputy legal director, James Bromley, partner at Cleary Gottlieb, and Bruce Greenberg, partner at Lite DePalma Greenberg, will be part of the plaintiff team. 聽The plaintiffs will be testifying.聽
