Ferguson v. JONAH
In July 2010, a video published by the organization Truth Wins Out features two former participants of JONAH, Ben Unger and Chaim Levin, alleging that Alan Downing, a life coach connected with JONAH, demanded that his participants strip off all of their clothing in front of a mirror and touch their genitals in his presence. Downing released a statement in response denying the charges. After emails were sent to the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists linking to the video, the organization initially rescinded a previous invitation to JONAH's founder Arthur Goldberg to speak at their annual convention, but later allowed him to speak. Yael Respler of The Jewish Press printed a letter by Goldberg about the incident and noted in response that she herself had engaged in reparative therapy (also called conversion therapy).
In November 2012, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed the lawsuit Ferguson v. JONAH against JONAH, Goldberg, and Downing on behalf of Michael Ferguson, Ben Unger, Chaim Levin, and two of the participants' mothers for fraudulent practices which are illegal under New Jersey's consumer protection laws. JONAH challenged the veracity of the plaintiffs' allegations. In 2014, Superior Court Judge Peter Bariso ruled that JONAH and its co-defendants could have to pay three times the cost paid by the participants for therapy they said they needed because of JONAH's conversion therapy.
In February 2015, Judge Bariso ruled that JONAH's claims of gay conversion therapy that describe homosexuality as a curable mental disorder were illegal based on the state's Consumer Fraud Act. Judge Bariso also said it is fraudulent to offer "success statistics" because "there is no factual basis for calculating such statistics". The judge also excluded expert testimony from leading conversion therapy proponents, Joseph Nicolosi and Christopher Doyle, ruling that their opinions were based on the false premise that homosexuality is a disorder. Bariso wrote that "the theory that homosexuality is a disorder is not novel but – like the notion that the earth is flat and the sun revolves around it – instead is outdated and refuted".
In response to Judge Bariso's ruling, David Dinielli, deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said, "This is the principal lie the conversion therapy industry uses throughout the country to peddle its quackery to vulnerable clients. Gay people don't need to be cured, and we are thrilled that the court has recognized this".
