If you are so interested, you can read for yourself the final cease and desist orders from the California AG against MAP International, Catholic Medical Mission Board, and Food for the Poor. They may be found at:
All three final orders were dated September 6, 2019. Preliminary orders were all signed by the Administrative Law Judge on May 24, 2019 and received by the Registry of Charitable Trusts on May 29, 2019.
Service of the final order was provided to :
- 4 attorneys representing CMMB
- 2 attorneys representing FFP
- 4 attorneys representing MAP
- 2 attorneys representing Registry of Charitable Trusts, part of DoJ
Thought exercise for you: ponder the costs behind having 10 attorneys as official representation for the three charities.
Appeal
Next stage? Appeal of the portion of the decision addressing the phrasing of fundraising letters.
The MAP International website says the organization has filed an appeal over the final order. I’ve not yet found where the appeal was filed, but will keep looking.
If you are interested in such legal trivia, the final orders address the first amendment claim. Short version filtered through my non-lawyer, businessman brain – – the Supreme Court has ruled one cannot claim first amendment protection in order to avoid duly approved regulations.
Think about it – if the first amendment allowed free speech in the face of clear laws and regulations, requirements for issues such as truth in lending calculations, real estate disclosures, bait-and-switch prohibitions, food grading requirements, and truth in advertising would be null and void. All those disclosures you see in the breakroom at work could be thrown away since they would infringe on the employer’s freedom of speech on the basis they constitute compelled speech.