The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to accept a case brought by antisemites in Arkansas who want an end to a state law that requires state contractors to pledge not to boycott Israel.
In Dec., the left-wing, anti-Israel American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas along with the Arkansas Times LP brought a suit against the state because the University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College canceled its advertising with the newspaper because the paper would not sign the state pledge, the Associated Press reported.
In other words, the newspaper wants to continue to attack Jews and they don’t want to sign a pledge to preclude that.
The paper claims the pledge violates its First Amendment rights.
“As journalists, we are fervent believers that the First Amendment’s speech protections are essential to a free and just society – and would never sign a contract that’s conditioned on the unconstitutional suppression of free speech,” Alan Leveritt, publisher and CEO of Arkansas Times, said in a statement. “Regardless of what people may think about this particular boycott, it is not the government’s place to decide what causes Arkansans can or cannot support.”
The law was enacted in 2018 as several other states passed similar legislation to prevent state contractors from earning state funds only to turn around and attack Israel.
The state’s Israel boycott restriction certification says “a public entity shall not enter into a contract valued at $1,000 or greater with a company unless the contract includes a written certification that the person or company is not currently engaged in and agrees for the duration of the contract not to engage in, a boycott of Israel.”
The paper lost its case. The AP added, “The full federal appeals court in St. Louis upheld the law, overturning a three-judge panel’s finding that it violated constitutional free speech rights.”
The paper tried to appeal its case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but with its decision this week, the high court has refused to take the case meaning that Arkansas’ law will stand.
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