I have always respected the SPLC. Instead of invoking vague moral arguments or attempt to get people to act better by appealing to their better natures, they simply tell people that the US has laws and everyone has to abide by them.
Conservatives have a hard time complying with the rule of law, which is what makes them such prime targets.
For instance the group JONAH exists to help gay people become not gay people. They apparently used methods that would more likely be found in a pornographic film than a therapist office, such as asking people to strip naked and touch themselves. The group claims that anyone can change and not be gay, often using theories that have been scientifically refuted.
So if you are the SPLC trying to close this place, do you focus on the fact that they appear to closer to porn artists than therapists, or that gay conversion is bunk. Do you appeal to peoples better sensibilities, or just work to prove that these are common con men who are bilking people out of their money.
Well, it is later and it has given pro child molester groups like the FRC a great deal of grief. The good news, oh today is great day for good news, and June has been a terrible month for the bigots, is that JONAH, after just three hours of deliberation, has been convicted of violating state consumer protection laws. In short, it is a group of people who commit fraud, not a legitimate religious organization trying to help people.
But the good news does not end there. The violation here does not deal with laws specific to gay conversion, or the abuse of patients, or the distinction between a councilor, a therapist, or a licensed condenser or therapist. No, this is a good old fashion bunco case, straight out of Dragnet. Every jurisdiction has bunco laws, and when you tell a client that being gay is not normal, and when the medical profession says it is normal, that is bunco as surely as telling someone they have unlimited data and then throttling it if they use too much.
In other words, it is open season for every gay conversion quack, be they Jewish, Evangelical, or whatever. All that is necessary is for the state to have consumer protection laws.