A federal judge rejected on First Amendment grounds a Kansas law punishing citizens who boycott Israel. The law required all state contractors to certify they were not boycotting Israel. When a teacher was denied a job because of her boycotting Israel, she sued. The court cited a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case over a boycott of white-owned stores in Mississippi stating that the law’s goal was “…to undermine the message of those participating in a boycott of Israel. This is either viewpoint discrimination against the opinion that Israel mistreats Palestinians or subject matter discrimination on the topic of Israel.” (The Intercept, January 31, 2018, by Glenn Greenwald)
The ACLU who argued the case for the teacher said the law “…compels speech regarding protected political beliefs, associations, and expression; restricts the political expression and association of government contractors; and discriminates against protected expression based on its content and viewpoint.” (American Civil Liberties Union, January 30, 2018, press release)
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