{"id":2256491,"date":"2024-05-31T08:31:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T12:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-blocks-ny-ag-letitia-james-blatant-venue-shopping-in-lawsuit-against-pro-life-groups\/"},"modified":"2024-05-31T08:32:43","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T12:32:43","slug":"court-blocks-ny-ag-letitia-james-blatant-venue-shopping-in-lawsuit-against-pro-life-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-blocks-ny-ag-letitia-james-blatant-venue-shopping-in-lawsuit-against-pro-life-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"Court denies NY AG Letitia James&#8217; attempt to shop for venue in lawsuit against Pro-Life organizations"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-blocks-ny-ag-letitia-james-blatant-venue-shopping-in-lawsuit-against-pro-life-groups%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2256491&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The court dismissed NY\u2063 AG Letitia James&#8217; attempt to transfer a\u2064 lawsuit against a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-worthy-recipient-pro-life-group-names-trump-pro-life-person-of-the-year\/\" title=\"\u201cA Worthy Recipient\u201d- Pro-Life Group Names Trump Pro-Life \u201cPerson Of The Year\u201d\">pro-life group<\/a> from upstate New York to \u200cManhattan. \u200bThe lawsuit stemmed from\u200d the \u200d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-choice-activists-target-home-of-pro-choice-republican\/\" title=\"Pro-Choice Activists Target Home of Pro-Choice Republican\">pro-life organization&#8217;<\/a>s legal action against James for targeting pregnancy centers. James\u200c sued multiple centers, alleging misleading claims on\u2064 abortion pill reversal, leading to a \u200blegal battle over\u200c the case&#8217;s venue. The\u200b court rejected NY AG Letitia\u2064 James&#8217; move to shift a lawsuit against a\u200b pro-life organization from upstate New York \u2064to Manhattan. The lawsuit arose from the \u2062pro-life \u2064group&#8217;s legal\u200c action against James for focusing \u200don pregnancy centers. James filed\u2063 suits against several centers, citing deceptive statements on abortion pill reversal, \u200bresulting in a jurisdictional dispute.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure>                         <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/uploads-ssl.webflow.com\/63d954d4e4ad424df7819d46\/664d0f6c18bbc5582ac44d6f_E2024007242_HEARTBEAT_INTERNATIONA_v_HEARTBEAT_INTERNATIONA_DECISION_ON_MOTION__36.pdf\">court rejected<\/a> New York Attorney General Letitia James\u2019 attempt to move her lawsuit against a pro-life organization from upstate New York to Manhattan last Tuesday. Her lawsuit comes after the pro-life organization Heartbeat International sued James over her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-divided-over-taking-sides-in-trump-desantis-battle\/\" title=\"House Republicans divided over taking sides in Trump, DeSantis battle\">politically motivated targeting<\/a> of pregnancy help centers.<\/p>\n<p>James, who has a track record of weaponizing the justice system against pro-life advocates, is <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/13\/ny-ag-letitia-james-sues-pregnancy-centers-over-life-saving-abortion-pill-reversal\/\">suing Heartbeat International<\/a> and several other associated pregnancy help centers. She alleges these organizations made \u201cfalse and misleading statements\u201d about abortion pill reversal (APR). APR is a protocol that seeks to reverse the effects of mifepristone, the first of two pills in a chemical abortion regimen. While James argues that APR is not FDA-approved or supported by some medical organizations, many <a href=\"https:\/\/aaplog.org\/abortion-pill-reversal\/\">organizations<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncregister.com\/news\/pro-life-doctor-abortion-pill-reversal\">experts<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/30831017\/\">studies<\/a> have demonstrated its efficacy for <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/02\/01\/abortion-pill-reversal-gave-my-daughter-and-me-a-second-chance-at-life\/\">women who change their minds about chemical abortion<\/a>. According to James, passing information on to women constitutes fraud and false advertising in violation of state law.<\/p>\n<p>Both parties agreed to consolidate the competing lawsuits. Heartbeat International filed for consolidation in upstate Monroe County, where the first suit was filed, as the common-sense option, as the majority of the pro-life organizations involved are located upstate. James\u2019 principal office is located upstate in Albany, in addition to her office located down the street from the Monroe County courthouse.<\/p>\n<p>However, in a clear attempt to shop around for the most pro-abortion jurisdiction she could find, James filed an order with the court to move the case from upstate Monroe County to Manhattan. Attorneys for Heartbeat International broke down James\u2019 ludicrous request in <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.prod.website-files.com\/63d954d4e4ad424df7819d46\/663a9080b1887b152f61b534_E2024007242_HEARTBEAT_INTERNATIONA_v_HEARTBEAT_INTERNATIONA_MEMORANDUM_OF_LAW_19.pdf\">their court filing<\/a>, stating:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Instead of yielding to this reasonable compromise, [James] seeks to halt this already-in-progress case, so she can try to consolidate it into her later-filed case in New York County, a highly inconvenient (and much more costly) venue, where none of the Plaintiffs are resident. [James\u2019s] litigation tactics smack of flagrant forum shopping: New York County has no connection to this controversy or any of the Plaintiffs. [James] concedes that most of the Plaintiffs are Upstate. (See NYSCEF Doc. No. 13, at 4.) Moreover, even [James] herself appears not to be \u201cresident\u201d in New York County, as the Appellate Division has previously held that the Attorney General\u2019s \u201cprincipal offices\u201d are in Albany, not Manhattan.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>On May 24, New York Supreme Court Justice Sam Valleriani <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.prod.website-files.com\/63d954d4e4ad424df7819d46\/6651010f2dde95d0a67300b4_E2024007242_HEARTBEAT_INTERNATIONA_v_HEARTBEAT_INTERNATIONA_ORDER___CONSOLIDATI_38.pdf\">issued an order shooting down <\/a>James\u2019 ridiculous attempt to relocate to Manhattan. The two lawsuits were combined, with Monroe County set as the rightful venue for the case. <\/p>\n<p>Peter Breen, Executive Vice President &#038; Head of Litigation at the Thomas More Society, the not-for-profit law firm representing Heartbeat International and the involved pregnancy help centers, counted this decision as a victory against James.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the past month, Letitia James has tried to illegally frighten and harass New York\u2019s pregnancy help organizations into silence, threatening them with lawsuits if they keep speaking their truthful message about Abortion Pill Reversal \u2026 Instead of agreeing to a convenient venue, James then sued these charitable organizations in Manhattan, despite the fact that not a single one of the organizations is located there,\u201d Breen said in a statement. \u201cWe are pleased that the Court in Monroe County agreed that the cases should be consolidated together and heard in Rochester, the \u2018most fair, appropriate and logistically convenient venue,\u2019 and not in Manhattan, which has no connection to the case.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Monroe Harless is a summer intern at The Federalist. She is a recent graduate of the University of Georgia with degrees in journalism and political science.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-image data-amount=\"5\">\n<h2>Popular<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A court dismissed NY AG Letitia James&#8217; bid to shift a lawsuit from upstate to Manhattan. The lawsuit follows Heartbeat International&#8217;s legal action against James for her political targeting of pregnancy help centers. James, known for weaponizing legal actions, faced the court&#8217;s decision last Tuesday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3175,"featured_media":2256492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/11443058865_787dd45e17_k-e1698859573290.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2256491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/11443058865_787dd45e17_k-e1698859573290.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2256491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2256492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2256491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2256491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2256491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}