New Jersey: SPLC Attorney Destroys Head Of "Ex-Gay Ministry"

ex-felon and municipal-bond fraud scheme mastermind Arthur Goldberg

The consumer fraud trial in New Jersey against JONAH - Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing - which fraudulently claimed that it could "cure" gays and make them heterosexual continues and, thankfully, continues to show the types of charlatans behind so many of these bogus ministries.  The irony is that even as the trial progresses, many Christofascists and right wing churches are launching new efforts to sell these snake oil peddling "ministries" to the ignorant and uninformed.  Among other things, at trial it came out that the founder of JONAH, Arthur Goldberg - which Wayne Besen and discovered a number of years ago - is a convicted felon.  Moreover, he lacks any of the credentials that he claims to hold in JONAH literature.  The New Jersey Jewish News has details:

On the trial’s second day, the plaintiffs’ lawyer Lina Bensman pointed out that Goldberg was a disbarred attorney who in 1989 was incarcerated for six months on federal tax fraud and conspiracy charges while heading a New York underwriting firm.

She asked why he had occasionally identified himself as a “doctor,” although he was not a physician and had no PhD.  “I am a JD, a juris doctor,” he explained. 

Goldberg also acknowledged that he used the title “rabbi” on occasion, although he was not ordained.

“I was not a rabbi,” he said. “I have no formal religious training other than going to a yeshiva in grade school.”

Goldberg also testified, “I have never been a licensed counselor. I give advice.”  But after being shown a signed document projected on a video screen, Goldberg acknowledged he had applied to the American Psychotherapy Association to become a certified relationship specialist and a certified professional counselor.   “But these certifications were revoked?” asked Bensman.  “Yes, ma’am” he replied. 

“And the certifications read, ‘I certify I have not been convicted of a felony’?”  “That is correct,” he said.

The article also notes:

According to Bennett Zurofsky, a Newark attorney who handles employment, consumer fraud, and constitutional rights cases, the allegations against JONAH “are similar to all fraud cases in that representations were made that people would rely on in making the decision to make use of the product or service, and that the representations were false and you were injured as a result of their being false.”

Zurofsky said the New Jersey fraud statute is stronger than those in many other states because it permits winning plaintiffs to collect triple damages — three times the amount of the money they spent on the service. In addition, the losing party is required to pay the attorneys’ fees of the winning side.

“What makes the consumer fraud statute useful is if you bring it as an ordinary fraud case you have to pay your own attorney,” he said. “A case like this one can be very expensive to litigate.”

Obviously, if JONAH loses this case, it could be shut down permanently.  Sadly, in states with less  stringent consumer fraud statutes, these quack ministries may be able to dodge much needed litigation.   FYI - Equality Case Files is attending the trial and is posting transcripts of the court proceedings and testimony. JONAH is being defended by a legal group headed by anti-gay extremist and fat cow Maggie Gallagher.

Again what JONAH has in common with so many of these fraudulent "ministries" is that fact that  most of the "experts" are frauds and/or have no legitimate credentials.

Judge Rules in Favor of Conversion Therapy Victims

In my view, so-called therapists who subject patients to ex-gay conversion therapy make witch doctors look like the height of medical competence in comparison.  They need to not only have their licenses revoked, but need to face civil damages for the harm they inflict on patience as a result of religious based insanity and bigotry.  Happily, that's what happened in a New Jersey court case brought against the quake organization Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH) and its co-defendants.  EVERY legitimate medical and mental health association in America has condemned"ex-gay" therapy and those who continue to engage in it need to bear the consequences of their greed and batshitery.  The Southern Poverty Law Center looks at the ruling.  Here are highlights:

A judge has ruled that a New Jersey conversion therapy organization is potentially liable for the costs to repair the damage it inflicted on four young people by using dangerous and discredited efforts it claimed can convert people from gay to straight.

New Jersey Superior Court Judge Peter F. Bariso Jr. ruled today that Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH) and its co-defendants may be liable for three times the amounts the four men paid for subsequent, legitimate therapy to repair the psychological damage caused by JONAH’s conversion therapy program. JONAH’s program included nude sessions with counselors and “father-son holding.”

“These self-proclaimed experts inflicted grave damage upon our clients, who believed JONAH’s claims that it could ‘cure’ them of being gay,” said David Dinielli, SPLC deputy legal director. “These young men were left with guilt, shame and frustration. No amount of money can fix the damage JONAH caused, but recognizing that JONAH can be held accountable for the cost of repairing that damage is an important step.”

In its ruling, the court held that costs for legitimate therapy to repair damage caused by conversion therapy constitute an “ascertainable loss,” a prerequisite to seeking damages under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act. The court also ruled that such costs can be recovered as “damages sustained” under the CFA, potentially allowing the SPLC’s clients to recoup three times the costs they incurred. 

The type of services offered by JONAH – known as conversion therapy – have been discredited or highly criticized by all major American medical, psychiatric, psychological and professional counseling organizations.

The SPLC filed this first-of-its-kind lawsuit against JONAH in 2012 for fraudulent practices. It charges that JONAH, its founder, Arthur Goldberg, and counselor Alan Downing violated New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act through misrepresentations including the contention that their counseling services could cure clients of being gay. The case is expected to go to trial early next year. 

It should be noted that JONAH founder Arthur Goldberg is a former convicted felon who did prison time for securities fraud (Wayne Besen and I were able to document this a few years back).  By founding JONAH, he simply went into the business of perpetrating a different kind of fraud.  One can only hope that insurance carriers are watching and will start cancelling liability coverage of therapists who engage in conversion therapy.

Is 'Ex-Gay' Group NARTH Rebranding?

In addition to Paul Cameron - a fraudulent "researcher" thrown out of every legitimate medical and sociological association to which he was a member in 1985 - and more recently the discredited Mark Regnerus, one of the principal sources of bogus, witch doctor like "therapies," faux research utilized by the Christofascists to claim gays "can change" is NARTH - the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality.  Historically, NARTH has been funded by a who's who of anti-gay hate groups and has had ties to discredited frauds like Arthur A. Goldberg - the founder of JONAH - who is a former felon.  Now, after losing its non-profit status, NARTH seems to be re-branding and focusing on profit like so many other "ministries" and counseling centers like that of Michelle Bachmann's husband Marcus "Marcia" Bachmann.  A piece in The Bilerico Project written by Mike Airhart, with whom I had a wonderful lunch some time back in DC, looks at NARTH's latest ploys.  Here are excerpts:  

The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), an ex-gay "think tank" that has provided junk-science arguments to the ex-gay and anti-gay political movements since 1992, appears to have evolved into a Utah for-profit corporation called Pilgrimage Resources - or, perhaps, a front for that corporation -- after NARTH allowed its non-profit status to lapse in 2012.

Yet NARTH still solicits donations on its website, inviting donors to become "partners" without telling them that their donation is non-tax-deductible and channeled to a business.

A leading champion of discredited "reparative therapy," NARTH falsely blames parents and child abuse for the development of homosexual orientation and promotes expensive "ex-gay therapy" (conducted by its "partner" therapists) to "cure" gay and lesbian persons of their presumed gender non-conformity. According to a Utah state government database, Pilgrimage Resources was registered as a corporation in February 2009 by David Clarke Pruden, NARTH's vice president of operations and the longtime president of the Mormon "ex-gay" group Evergreen. 

At about the same time, NARTH stopped filing required renewals of its non-profit status with the IRS, and in 2012 the IRS discontinued that status. Currently, NARTH's website channels all donations and resource purchases through Pilgrimage Resources.

We left messages for Pilgrimage Resources and NARTH, asking: 

"We would like to know why Pilgrimage Resources is registered as a corporation in Utah, what is the current status of NARTH as a registered state or federal non-profit organization, and why NARTH is channeling 'donations' through a corporation instead of a non-profit."

In addition to the anti-gay political propaganda goals of the  Christofascist hate groups, one of the big attraction of the "ex-gay" programs is the reality that they can be very lucrative as they prey on tortured, religiously brainwashed gays and, perhaps more importantly, their self-centered parents who are embarrassed to have a gay child. 

Read more at http://www.bilerico.com/2014/05/is_ex-gay_group_narth_rebranding.php#WL32qy8F07vxCySJ.99

Christofascists File Suit to Block New Jersey Ban on "Ex-Gay" Therapy

As promised, the theocrats and Christofascists at Liberty Counsel - which is affiliated with Liberty University, another huge blight on Virginia's image - have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block New Jersey's newly enacted ban on subjecting minors to fraudulent witch doctor like "ex-gay" therapy.  As noted before, maintaining the myth that gays can change their sexual orientation is a crucial part of the Christofascists' effort to block gay rights and anti-discrimination protections.  Never mind that every legitimate medical and mental health association in America condemns the therapy.  And never mind that there is a long history of courts and statutes protecting minors form abuse and/or dangerous religious based practices.  Would that courts would begin imposing sanctions on Liberty Counsel and Matt Staver (pictured above) for the frivolous cases that are routinely filed.  The Washington Blade looks at the lawsuit.  Here are details:

Liberty Counsel filed the 46-page complaint before the U.S. District Court of New Jersey against Christie, who signed a law on Monday barring sexual orientation conversation therapy for minors within his state, as well as other state officials.

The lawsuit alleges the law violates freedoms of speech and religion under the U.S. and New Jersey Constitutions. Additionally, the lawsuit contends the law violates parental rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

The group filed the lawsuit on behalf of two Christian counselors who practice sexual orientation conversion therapy and two fringe psychological groups that have endorsed it: the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, or NARTH, and the American Association of Christian Counselors.

“This law went into full effect immediately, upon being signed by Governor Christie on August 19, 2013, and thus time is of the essence to obtain judicial relief because plaintiffs, their clients, and the members of the plaintiff associations are currently suffering immediate and irreparable injury to their most cherished constitutional liberties,” the filing states.

Mat Staver, founder and chair of Liberty Counsel, said in a statement on the day the lawsuit was filed that the law is “a tyrannical overreach of government authority.”

“With this law, parents may face Child Protective Services investigating their home and even law enforcement taking their children if they seek change therapy,” he said said.

“Ex-gay” conversion is widely discredited and refuted by major mainstream psychological groups, such as American Psychological Association. In June, the largest ex-gay group, Exodus International, closed its doors after its executive director Alan Chambers issued an apology acknowledging “the pain and hurt others have experienced” through failed attempts at conversion therapy.
Still, plaintiffs in the lawsuit contend its effective.

One of the plaintiff counselors, Tara King, . . . . holds a Masters Degree in Christian counseling from Liberty University . . .

The other plaintiff counselor in the lawsuit is Ronald Newman, a licensed psychiatrist who obtained advanced degrees in psychology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, which has spoken out about “ex-gay” therapy and its dangers, criticized the lawsuit as a waste of time for the judicial system.

“The Liberty Counsel has filed a frivolous lawsuit that confuses religious liberty with license to abuse LGBT youth,” Besen said. “The claim is without merit, relies on perpetuating junk science, and is in defense of a fraudulent product. With evidence and facts on our side, the Liberty Counsel is wasting time and money — similar to the clients of ex-gay therapists.”

Wayne - who I have worked with for a decade to expose ex-gay frauds like ex-gay poster boy Michael Johnston and JONAH founder and former NARTH board member Arthur Goldberg as an ex felon - sums it up well.  And yes, parents should be subjected to child protective services investigations if they place their children in "ex-gay" programs. 

Consumer Fraud Lawsuit Filed Against "Ex-Gay" Therapy Group in New Jersey

I have long believed that the fastest way to kill off and close down fraudulent "ex-gay" ministries and unethical Christian therapists is through lawsuits.  Lawsuits that sue these quacks for fraud or seek to recover damages for harm done to victims of these programs who either entered them voluntarily or who were forced into them by family or churches.  Thankfully, such a lawsuit has been filed in New Jersey against Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing ("JONAH"), Arthur Goldberg, the group's ex-felon founder (working with Wayne Besen I helped expose Goldberg's felony conviction for securities fraud and his disbarment), and a counselor for the group, Alan Downing.  The lawsuit alleges that the group violated New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act because it claims it can "cure" gays despite the contrary findings of the American Psychological Association and every other legitimate medical and mental health association.  Metro Weekly has details.  Here are excerpts:

The fight against "ex-gay" conversion therapy continued in New Jersey today, where former patients of a group that promised to convert people from gay to straight filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of New Jersey.

Four young men and two of their parents filed the lawsuit against the founder of Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), Arthur Goldberg, and a counselor for the group, Alan Downing, alleging that the group violated New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act by claiming that they could "cure" gay people of their homosexuality.

Represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and Lite DePalma Greenberg, the plaintiffs' lawsuit is the first to sue a practitioner of conversion therapy on the grounds of providing fraudulent services.

The complaint alleges that, among other things, the plaintiffs were lured into believing "reparative therapy" could make them straight, spending thousands of dollars in the process while enduring abusive practices at the hands of Goldberg and Downing. Such practices have long been discredited by therapists as amounting to abuse.

Specifically, the complaint says that the plaintiffs were instructed to remove their clothing during individual and group therapy sessions. They were also instructed to cuddle with other same-sex patients and counselors as well as go to gyms and bath houses in order to be nude around father figures. Subjected to verbal abuse that included being called names like "faggots" and "homos" during mock locker room scenarios, some were also told to beat effigies of their mothers with tennis rackets.

"JONAH profits off of shameful and dangerous attempts to fix something that isn’t broken," said Christine Sun, SPLC deputy legal director, in a statement. "Despite the consensus of mainstream professional organizations that conversion therapy doesn't work, this racket continues to scam vulnerable gay men and lesbians out of thousands of dollars and inflicts significant harm on them."

According to SPLC, JONAH was originally known as Jews Offering New Alternatives for Homosexuality. Its founder, Arthur Goldberg, is a former Wall Street executive and attorney and was disbarred after being convicted of three counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the federal government. After being released from prison, he founded JONAH in 1999.

The New York Times reports that neither Goldberg nor Downing are subject to censure from medicial associations because they are not licensed therapists.

In October, SPLC also filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation against Paul McNulty, a state licensed clinical social worker who practices reparative therapy.

One can only hope that many more lawsuits of this type are filed and that the ultimately extend to church affiliated snake oil "ministries.