Ferguson v. JONAH
Ferguson v. JONAH, New Jersey Superior Court No. L-5473-12 (N.J. Super. Ct. Law Div. 2015) is a landmark LGBT civil rights case in which a New Jersey jury unanimously determined that conversion therapy, also called "reparative therapy," "reorientation therapy," or "ex-gay therapy" constituted consumer fraud.
| Ferguson v. JONAH | |
|---|---|
| Court | New Jersey Superior Court |
| Full case name | Michael Ferguson et al., v. JONAH et al. |
| Argued | June 3 to June 25, 2015 |
| Decided | June 25, 2015 |
| Citation(s) | No. L-5473-12 (N.J. Super. Ct. Law Div. 2015) |
| Transcript(s) | Equality Case Files Unofficial Transcripts |
| Holding | |
| A jury found that claims to convert clients from gay to straight violated consumer fraud protections and was unconscionable. | |
| Court membership | |
| Chief judge | Peter F. Bariso Jr. |
| Case opinions | |
| Decision by | Jury |
| Laws applied | |
| Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A., ยง56:8-2, et seq. | |
| Keywords | |
| LGBT, Conversion Therapy | |
The lawsuit accused Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality or JONAH (which changed its name to Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing) of consumer fraud for selling services that they claimed could change a person from gay to straight. This case was a first-of-its-kind lawsuit to use consumer protection laws to legally challenge the practice of conversion therapy. The Southern Poverty Law Center filed the case in November 2012 and the case went to trial on June 3, 2015. A pretrial ruling by the Court declared for the first time in American history that homosexuality was not a mental disease, disorder, or equivalent thereof as a matter of law. On June 25, 2015, after a three-week trial, the jury unanimously found the defendants liable for consumer fraud and unconscionable business practices, ordered JONAH to pay $72,400 to compensate the plaintiffs plus an undisclosed amount for attorney's fees, ordered that JONAH be permanently closed, and forbade the defendants from ever starting a similar organization in New Jersey.