Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Cert. Denied in Challenge to Arkansas' Ban on Companies Boycotting Israel

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday denied review in Arkansas Times LP v. Waldrip, (Docket No. 22-379, certiorari denied 2/21/2023). (Order List.)  In the case, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals sitting en banc, in a 9-1 opinion, upheld against a free speech challenge Arkansas' law requiring public contracts to include a certification from the contractor that it will not boycott Israel.  The 8th Circuit held that the law only bans non-expressive commercial decisions. (See prior posting.) JNS reports on the denial of certiorari. Here is the SCOTUSblog case page with links to briefs filed in the case.