ACLU Files Lawsuit against Kansas Law Penalizing Support for Any Boycott of Israel

A law went into effect in Kansas in July, which directs the state “to require written certification from all individuals and companies with which it enters into contracts” that they “are not engaged in a boycott of Israel.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed suit in behalf of a Kansas public school teacher who was asked to disavow a boycott of Israel as a condition of maintaining her position as a contractor with the Kansas Department of Education’s Math and Science Partnership Program.

The teacher, Esther Koontz, is a Mennonite and is married to a Mennonite minister. She is committed to following the church’s July 2017 resolution “to avoid economic support for the military occupation of Palestinian territories.”The resolution also called on Mennonites “to examine the legacy of anti-Semitism in their own history and life.” Similar divestment and boycott motions have been adopted by the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church.

ACLU attorney Brian Hauss says that, “The First Amendment prohibits the government from using its financial leverage to impose an ideological litmus test. The law is an unconstitutional attempt by the government to silence one side of a public debate by coercing people not to express their beliefs, including through participation in a political boycott.”

A 9-year veteran of Wichita Public Schools, Koontz, a math teacher, now develops school curricula and trains teachers. She was asked to sign the anti-boycott certification as part of her engagement with the Kansas Department of Education’s Math and Science Partnership Program, “You don’t need to share my beliefs or agree with my decisions to understand that this law violates my free speech rights,” says Koontz. “The state should not be telling people what causes they can or can’t support. I’m disappointed that I can’t be a math trainer for the state of Kansas because of my political views about human rights across the globe. I am convinced that this boycott could help bring about an end to the Israeli government’s occupation in the same way those tactics helped dismantle apartheid in South Africa.”

The ACLU declares that the Kansas law violates the First Amendment: “It 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 viewpoint.”

At this time, 21 states have enacted laws opposing any boycott of Israel. The Kansas law is the most extreme, because of its requirement that individuals and companies certify their position. The Israeli magazine +972 reports that, “The state-level campaign to silence BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) activists is part of a nationwide campaign by groups like StandWithUs and the Emergency Committee for Israel … The drive is supported, in part, by the Israeli government, which has committed millions of dollars to marketing products targeted by the boycott, including those produced on illegal settlements in the West Bank.”

Writing in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, ACLU attorney Brian Hauss declares: “From the Boston Tea Party to the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the campaign to divest from businesses operating in apartheid South Africa, political boycotts have been a proud part of this country’s tradition.” •