New Report Finds UCLA Funding Restrictions Violated University Policy

New Report Finds UCLA Funding Restrictions Violated University Policy

In November 2015, a student government official at UCLA restricted funding for a Diversity Town Hall event by requiring the event organizers to maintain “zero connection” to anyone with “Divest from Israel or any equivalent movement/organization” – or else they would lose their funding. The UCLA Discrimination Prevention Office confirmed in a report released this week that the funding condition violated campus policy and harmed the campus climate by chilling speech. 

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Media Spotlight: Cuomo’s Order Sparks Debate On Right to Boycott

Media Spotlight: Cuomo’s Order Sparks Debate On Right to Boycott

Gov. Cuomo probably did not anticipate the fierce media backlash his order received. We’ve collected some media highlights.

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UC Irvine Moves to Criminalize Student Protest, Again

UC Irvine Moves to Criminalize Student Protest, Again

A case involving a student protest outside a film screening and panel of Israeli soldiers speaking at University of California, Irvine (UCI) has been referred to the Orange County District Attorney (DA) to determine whether charges will be filed. The May 18 protest, conducted by members of numerous student organizations, aimed to draw connections between state violence at home and abroad. 

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Andrew Cuomo’s BDS Blacklist Is a Clear Violation of the First Amendment

Andrew Cuomo’s BDS Blacklist Is a Clear Violation of the First Amendment

Governors have significant authority in issuing executive orders, and in many situations, they do so to circumvent legislative roadblocks. But executive orders cannot wish away the Constitution.

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Groups Seek Cuomo Documents About Executive Order Blacklisting Institutions That Support BDS

Groups Seek Cuomo Documents About Executive Order Blacklisting Institutions That Support BDS

June 21, 2016, New York – Today, human rights and civil liberties groups filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request seeking documents relating to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent executive order that will blacklist institutions and companies that abide by Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns related to Israeli human rights abuses and violations of international law. Under the order, New York State money will be divested from those institutions unless and until they drop their support of the constitutionally-protected movement for Palestinian rights.

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Statement: New NY Bill Unconstitutional

Statement: New NY Bill Unconstitutional

SB 8017 is an unequivocally unconstitutional attack on First Amendment freedoms that strikes at New York’s college students. Boycotts to effect political, social or economic change are a constitutionally-protected form of speech, association and assembly, and have a long history of being used successfully to address injustice.

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Suppression at UC Irvine follows predictable pattern

Suppression at UC Irvine follows predictable pattern

Palestine Legal joins with the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) to express serious concern about the University of California Irvine’s treatment of student protestors.

On May 18, students at UC Irvine (UCI) gathered outside a film screening featuring a panel of Israeli soldiers, to protest police brutality and draw connections between state violence at home and abroad. The coalition included the Black Student Union, Muslim Student Union, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, La Resilencia Trans/Queer de UCI, American Indian Student Association, Asian Pacific Student Association, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Students for Justice in Palestine.

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