Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Upset-Ad4844 t1_it5sux9 wrote

About time, ACLU.

Since SCOTUS declared that money equals speech, it is an easy argument to make that anti-boycott laws violate the 1st Amendment.

169

Mist_Rising t1_it5wgwg wrote

This isn't the first time the anti BDS laws have been sued - successfully - in courts including the supreme court. ACLU is the usual challenger.

The "rights" group that hasn't seemingly fought them is unsurprisingly the Anti deformation league (ADL), which claims they do a 'case by case' decision but seem to always decide they approve of the laws barring you from your first amendment to protest Israel.

80

Upset-Ad4844 t1_it5xe9o wrote

Thanks, Mist. I looked them up on Wikipedia because I'm not very familiar.

It seems they are pretty entrenched as a pro-Israel group and do not even pretend to be apolitical. Is this a fair appraisal?

26

Mist_Rising t1_it5z8o1 wrote

Close enough, they're what people refer to when they say pro Israeli lobbyists in the US. They're also the opposite of B'Tselem which claims Israeli is apartheid and ADL called the report anti semitic. @_@

18

Mist_Rising t1_it6470a wrote

>The ACLU defended Nazis

They defended the first amendment in this case. Not sure if you're aware of that or deliberately trying to avoid mentioning that was the argument but Skokie was about the right to assemble.

22

SacrificialPwn t1_it67f18 wrote

They defend civil liberties, not the person/group. A protected right to free speech is no longer protected nor a right if the state can determine what's allowed to be spoken or believed. I'd rather have a world where people can voice support or opposition to a country, than one where you are penalized for voicing either

12

Upset-Ad4844 t1_it697pa wrote

They took a stand back then for the right to free speech.

Free speech is ugly.

Freedom is ugly when people disagree.

That's why the right to free speech so often seems self-contradictory, at times hurtful.

It takes a lot of guts in the belief that it is ultimately for the best of all people in the long run.

Thanks for your response.

15

PorkshireTerrier t1_it6is2u wrote

Lmao the free market is king, unless it affects me and what I think god is

92

LostThyme t1_it73om3 wrote

Explain this to me like I'm stupid. How do you outlaw a boycott? A boycott is when you stop doing something. As far as I know, I have never engaged economically with Israel, but that's not a boycott. Unless I announce it's a boycott, then it is. Now I say I've ended my boycott. My actions have not changed at all, only my decoration of intent. I don't see how that can be outlawed.

40

SamCarter_SGC t1_it76kio wrote

> Act 710 prohibits Arkansas agencies from investing in or contracting with companies unless they sign a pledge not to boycott Israel or offers a 20% cut in compensation in lieu of signing such a pledge

The government will not do business with your business unless you sign it or pay them a lot of money. As for how they define "boycott", the lack of clarity there seems to be part of the problem.

63

AKMarine t1_it7fhau wrote

That’s pretty bizarre that the government will allow a person to protest against it, but not against another government.

22

fatcIemenza t1_it7l47s wrote

You don't see any issue with the government saying "support our politics or face the penalty"? What if a blue state had a law that said every employer had to donate to Black Lives Matter or they'd have to pay a fine?

30

00A36C t1_it7pxp3 wrote

I legitimately wonder 🤔 how many Arkansonians know where Israel is?

4

R_V_Z t1_it7y10k wrote

> Since SCOTUS declared that money equals speech

Only when it's convenient, not universally. Otherwise Civil Forfeiture would be considered a violation of the 1st Amendment.

17

Bob_Juan_Santos t1_it7ygpy wrote

why do people have a such hard on for Israel? I mean, i lived there for 2 years as a kid and I enjoyed the place, but damn, the amount of bending over backwards for Israel is crazy.

10

dkran t1_it86cpc wrote

Yeah, because the US government lets us protest so peacefully… rolls eyes

I get it that you can protest in a much more pronounced way than many countries, but I definitely think the right to protest in the US has been dying since the 90s. Look at the laws desantis passed in Florida…

2

Doomsday31415 t1_it87986 wrote

This isn't actually uncommon.

The government decides its own guidelines on which businesses it will give subsidies and other funding to.

For example, California's vehicle MPG standards.

−27

screech_owl_kachina t1_it89j63 wrote

Why are we as a condition of work, signing loyalty oaths to a country neither party in the contract is affiliated with and conducting business that otherwise doesn't involve the 3rd party in any way?

6

screech_owl_kachina t1_it89rd0 wrote

If armed police show up to intimidate you into stopping, if not physically intervening to stop you, pretty much any time you have a protest for a non-right wing cause, do you actually have the right to assemble?

7

dkran t1_it89uw1 wrote

spins back time to Kent State

Edit: you’re totally right that it’s only been non right wing riots. UCLA, Kent state, Vietnam war in general, Occupy Wall Street, Rodney King, George Floyd…

Then we have Jan 6th.

4

Has_hog t1_it89v1p wrote

Lol. Dude do you always just read the first sentence and just go off? This “sanctions” argument is most base level, first sentence reading interpretation possible — it’s clearly more complicated than that or the aclu wouldn’t have a case to challenge the state.

13

PsychoEngineer t1_it8hwnh wrote

But then charging a penalty to certain companies but not others due to a international political issue? I’d like an example please to support your claim that they do similar to this for things… gotta be a foreign issue and limited to penalties related to that foreign issue that certain companies are penalized for and others are not depending on where that companies position is on this foreign issue.

I’ll wait.

7

Doomsday31415 t1_it9e2pw wrote

The US military only provides equipment to movie studios that the US military approves of. All the others have to come up with all that equipment on their own, and are basically doomed to fail as a result.

Your "only this very specific narrow example" is a red herring that ignores that it's very common for the government to provide incentives (e.g. government contracts) for companies on condition of whatever the government wants.

−2

Mist_Rising t1_it9tt8y wrote

>This was my question. How could they possibly enforce such a law?

The enforcement mechanism is that you can't get money from the government if you have shown active signs of working against Israel, such as in any comments or action. It's fairly loose on interpretation too.

5

Bit-Random t1_itb8p3j wrote

That’s a false equivalency, though. They’re saying “don’t boycott Israel or don’t work with us”, and not “all businesses in Arkansas must donate to Israel”.

−2

Doomsday31415 t1_itilj3x wrote

As far as the constitution is concerned, both fall squarely under the state's authority to regulate how businesses do business. There may be concerns about the state regulating international commerce, but that has nothing to do with the 1st amendment.

Also, the BLM example mentioned is a red herring. Keeping your doors open to a certain group is not "donating" to them.

1