Federal Judge Blocks West Virginia Attorney General's Subpoenas to Two Environmental Groups
CHARLESTON, West Virginia — U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin of the Southern District of West Virginia granted a temporary restraining order on October 29 blocking Attorney General J.B. McCuskey from enforcing subpoenas against the West Virginia Rivers Coalition and the national climate group 350.org. The order runs until 4 p.m. on November 12, unless the court extends it.
McCuskey issued the subpoenas on September 16 under the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, demanding 16 categories of documents reaching back to January 1, 2017 — internal communications, drafts, fundraising records and information about supporters — with a compliance deadline of November 2.
In a 27-page memorandum opinion, Goodwin wrote that the Attorney General identified no consumer who was cheated, no sale, and no purchase made in reliance on anything either group said; the organizations engage in protected advocacy speech, not commercial speech, and the subpoenas trespass on their freedom of association and chill First Amendment rights. "The First Amendment forbids a State from using its investigative power that way, and I will not allow it while this case is pending," he wrote.
The ruling is temporary relief, not a final decision; a hearing on a longer preliminary injunction will be scheduled. The two organizations sued on October 22, alleging violations of the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Sources: Court opinion excerpts published by Reason (The Volokh Conspiracy), October 30; Bloomberg Law, October 30.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：西弗吉尼亚州查尔斯顿市景。来源：Wikimedia Commons（WeaponizingArchitecture，CC BY-SA 4.0）
