Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has joined a coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm states’ authority to issue and enforce investigative subpoenas as part of state-level investigations into potential violations of law, including consumer protection and charitable oversight statutes.
The coalition filed an amicus brief supporting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin in First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin, which is scheduled for oral argument before the Supreme Court on December 2, 2025. The case concerns whether a faith-based pregnancy center, First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, may sue a state in federal court to block an investigative subpoena before a state court has ruled on or enforced the subpoena.
Both the federal district court and the court of appeals previously sided with New Jersey, determining that the lawsuit could not proceed in federal court until state proceedings concluded.
Attorney General Brown and the coalition argue that allowing federal intervention at this stage could weaken the authority of state attorneys general to investigate potential violations of state laws, including those related to antitrust, environmental regulation, and consumer protection. They contend that state courts have long been the appropriate venue for resolving disputes involving investigative subpoenas and constitutional issues such as free speech claims.
“Subpoenas like these help our Office enforce the laws that protect Marylanders,” said Brown. “The Supreme Court should not undermine these efforts by allowing subpoena recipients to short-circuit investigations into fraud and other unlawful conduct.”
Attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington joined Maryland in filing the brief.
