Summary
In Kenney-Shawa’s brief, the reuse of anti-BDS legislation as a template for laws criminalizing other boycotts and forms of protest — the mechanism by which the crackdown on Palestine solidarity widens into an assault on civil society generally (lines 149, 219-225).
Details
- The brief’s examples: Kentucky’s SB 205 prohibits the state from contracting with companies unless they submit written certification that they will not engage in a boycott of energy companies; Indiana’s HB 1409, if passed, will prevent state contracts with companies lacking written certification that they will not discriminate against a firearm entity or firearm trade association (line 223).
- The brief places copycat laws alongside the 38 states’ anti-protest bills enacted since 2017, mostly in reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement and environmental protesters, and heightened voting restrictions in key swing states (lines 149, 225).
- Its recommended response is intersectional: citizens should highlight the intersectional nature of the assault on social and political expression, and organize alongside other groups being affected by copycat legislation (lines 155, 233).
Related pages
Challenging Anti-Boycott Legislation in the US, Anti-boycott legislation, BDS movement, Freedom of Expression