ACLU Seeks To Overturn AR Ban On Boycotting Israel

The Guardian reports:

The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the US supreme court to overturn an Arkansas law requiring companies to pledge not to boycott Israel in order to do business with the state.

The ACLU is acting on behalf of the Arkansas Times newspaper and its editor, Alan Leveritt, after a federal appeals court upheld a 2017 Arkansas law requiring government contractors to pledge not to boycott Israel or face a loss of business. The state justified the move as “boycotting the boycotters”.

Leveritt said he had no intention of boycotting Israel, with which the paper does no business, but he refused to sign the commitment because it “requires the Arkansas Times to take a political position in return for advertising”. As a result, the paper lost a contract with the state-run University of Arkansas.

Read the full article.

Photo: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

According to the ACLU, similar bans on boycotting the firearms and fossil fuels industries are pending in multiple states. The ACLU contends that boycotts are protected free speech.

ACLU asks supreme court to overturn Arkansas’ anti-boycott law against Israel https://t.co/Qww93PZFRb

— Guardian US (@GuardianUS) October 20, 2022