Federal judge blocks West Virginia attorney general's subpoenas to two environmental nonprofits
Judge Joseph R. Goodwin found the groups likely to show that the demands violate their freedom of association, and that the state's consumer protection law does not reach nonprofit advocacy. The order runs until Nov. 12.
Charleston. A federal judge in Charleston has temporarily barred West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey from enforcing subpoenas he sent to two environmental nonprofits, finding the groups likely to prove the demands violate their First Amendment freedom of association. U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin of the Southern District of West Virginia granted a temporary restraining order on Oct. 29, hours after a hearing, in a 27-page opinion.
The order covers the subpoenas dated Sept. 16 to the West Virginia Rivers Coalition and the climate group 350, which sued Mr. McCuskey on Oct. 22. His office may not enforce them, including their Nov. 2 deadline, ask any court to compel compliance, or send either group a new demand for the same records. It expires Nov. 12 at 4 p.m. unless extended, and a hearing on a preliminary injunction is to be set separately.
Advocacy is not trade
The subpoenas invoked the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, which outlaws unfair or deceptive acts "in the conduct of any trade or commerce." The attorney general's theory was that the groups' reliance on RCP8.5, a high-emissions climate scenario, could be deceptive. Judge Goodwin wrote that both are 501(c)(3) organizations selling nothing beyond merchandise bearing their names, and that their advocacy is not commercial speech the law can reach. He was not persuaded by a late argument that the groups' online fundraising appeals were speech the law could reach.
He also found the subpoenas far broader than that theory: ten years of publications, drafts, internal deliberations, grantees, coalition partners, shared board members and filings with agencies. Mr. McCuskey's office dropped its demand for the names of the groups' funders on Oct. 26; the judge held that this did not cure the harm, citing the Supreme Court's 2026 decision in First Choice Women's Resource Centers v. Davenport. The groups say the coalition has paused its small grants for community water projects and 350 will take on no new work in West Virginia.
“The First Amendment forbids a State from using its investigative power that way, and I will not allow it while this case is pending.”
What comes next
At the hearing, Ryan Donovan, a lawyer for the attorney general's office, called it "a very narrow investigation into narrow statements made to knowingly deceive" donors, The Dominion Post reported. Amanda Demmerle of Appalachian Mountain Advocates argued for the groups.
The judge rested the order on the association claim alone. He wrote that the groups had offered substantial evidence that the subpoenas were retaliation for their advocacy, but reserved judgment on that claim until the attorney general can present evidence. He added that the order leaves the attorney general free to police deception in the marketplace where the law applies.
About this story
501c3.help wrote this story from the sources listed with it, not from material an organization sent. Our editors approved it on Nov. 2, 2026. Stories in The Nonprofit Herald are free, and nothing is asked in return. Editorial rules.
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