[1][2][3] A pretrial ruling by the Court declared for the first time in American history that homosexuality was not a mental disease, disorder, or equivalent thereof as a matter of law.
[11] Five plaintiffs were represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, and Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC.
[12][better source needed] Charles LiMandri of the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund, who had been a one-time counsel to the National Organization for Marriage,[13] represented the three defendants.
[15] In February 2015, Judge Bariso ruled that JONAH's claims of gay conversion therapy that describe homosexuality as a curable mental disorder were illegal based on the state's Consumer Fraud Act.
The judge also excluded expert testimony from leading conversion therapy proponents, Joseph Nicolosi and Christopher Doyle, ruling that their opinions were based on the false premise that homosexuality is a disorder.
[16] In response to Judge Bariso's ruling, David Dinielli, deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said, "This is the principal lie the conversion therapy industry uses throughout the country to peddle its quackery to vulnerable clients.
[16] On 25 June 2015, in the first-ever trial of conversion therapy in the United States, a New Jersey jury found JONAH guilty of consumer fraud for promising to be able to change its clients' sexual urges and determined its commercial practices to be unconscionable.
[17] David Dinielli, SPLC deputy legal director said, "this verdict is a monumental moment in the movement to ensure the rights and acceptance of LGBT people in America".
Dubrowski wrote that "one state trial court decision in New Jersey creates neither binding precedent nor guaranteed success in future suits against conversion therapists.