Press Release: 10/21/2025

AG Campbell Urges SCOTUS To Protect States’ Use Of Investigative Subpoenas

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

10/21/2025

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Allie Zuliani, Deputy Press Secretary

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BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today co-led a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to confirm states’ longstanding authority to request information from individuals and corporations as part of state investigations into potential violations of state laws, including for example, consumer protection laws.  

“As we work to protect consumers from scams, protect the environment, protect our young people, oversee public charities, and perform all of the other functions of our office, it is critical we have the ability to fully investigate entities alleged to have violated our laws,” said AG Campbell. “I urge the Supreme Court to affirm state’s authority to use investigatory subpoenas so that we can continue doing our jobs of protecting our residents effectively.”  

The case concerns whether First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, a faith-based pregnancy center, could sue a state in federal court to block a state investigative subpoena looking into whether the organization had violated state consumer protection and charitable oversight laws. First Choice argued that its First Amendment rights of free speech and association were harmed solely by receiving the investigative subpoena from New Jersey’s Attorney General. First Choice argues it was entitled to sue New Jersey in federal court to block New Jersey’s investigation of First Choice even before a state court ruled on First Choice’s objections to the subpoena or enforced the subpoena. Both the federal district court and federal court of appeals sided with New Jersey, dismissing the federal lawsuit until the state court ruled on the objections to the subpoena or ordered enforcement. 

AG Campbell and other states argue that, if adopted, First Choice’s position will undermine the authority of state attorneys general to investigate a range of possible violations of state laws on everything from antitrust to environmental and consumer protection issues. Attorneys general in red and blue states alike frequently use investigative subpoenas to perform their jobs as chief law enforcement officers for their states. State courts have long been the typical venue for a subpoena recipient to challenge an investigative subpoena and are well-equipped to handle constitutional questions such as First Amendment issues. 

The states ask the Supreme Court to recognize the importance of state investigatory subpoenas and to allow state courts to continue to handle the majority of disputes arising from those subpoenas, without the unnecessary involvement of the federal courts. The case is scheduled for oral argument before the Supreme Court on December 2. 

Joining AG Campbell in filing the brief, which she co-led with Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.