Month: April 2022

A Look at the Rise of Anti-BDS Laws in the United States

Alt text: Gavel with Israeli flag between the words Boycott Israel

Monica Shaffer

I. Introduction

Over the last ten years, bills that prohibit freedom of expression have been proposed and even passed at disturbingly high rates by both state and federal legislative bodies, but they slide under the radar. They go ignored because they are passed to “support” one of the United States’ greatest allies, Israel.[1] These bills, known in activist circles as “anti-BDS” bills, are passed to prevent government agencies (including schools, legislatures, and employers) from contracting with anyone (a person or entity) that supports the “BDS” movement, a form of nonviolent resistance against the state of Israel. These bills are passed under the guise of curbing antisemitism[2] and anti-Israel sentiment. However, this Article will demonstrate that the purpose of these bills has not been achieved and, in fact, the bills are unconstitutional and should be struck down.

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Starting Now! Symposium Keynote from Anthony Ray Hinton

Join us for the Keynote Address for out Locked Up & Locked Out Symposium: Anthony Ray Hinton! Reminder that this is a SEPARATE Zoom link from the rest of the Symposium events.

Anthony Ray Hinton survived for 30 years on Alabama’s death row. His story is a decades-long journey to exoneration and freedom. In 1985, Mr. Hinton was convicted of the unsolved murders of two fast-food restaurant managers based on the testimony of ballistics experts for the State who claimed that the crime bullets came from a dusty revolver found in Mr. Hinton’s mother’s closet. Without the benefit of a competent expert to challenge the State’s theory (Mr. Hinton’s lawyer hired a ballistics expert who was blind in one eye), an all-white jury convicted Mr. Hinton and he was sentenced to death. After years of petitioning to have the revolver re-analyzed, three independent experts concluded that the bullets could not have been fired from his mother’s revolver. With the assistance of the Equal Justice Initiative, led by attorney Bryan Stevenson, Mr. Hinton was freed in 2015. Since his release, Mr. Hinton has traveled the world sharing his story and discussing the changes that need to be made to prevent similar injustices from happening to other people. In 2018, Mr. Hinton published The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row, which was selected for Oprah’s Book Club and is a New York Times bestseller. In 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Bonaventure University.

Starting Now! Symposium Panel 4: Juvenile Justice Diversion Programs

Click here to join us for a discussion with panelists Ayodele “Dele” Famodu, from the Youth Justice and Wellness Division of the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, Sarah Davis, Executive Director of the Legal Rights Center, and Megan Jablonski Johnson, from the Juvenile Prosecution Division of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office

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Starting Now! Symposium Panel 3: Restorative Justice in Practice

Click here to join us for a conversation with panelists Roslyn Harmon, Executive Director of the Dispute Resolution Center, Linsey McMurrin, Prevention Specialist from Peacemaker Resources, and Howard Vogel, Professor Emeritus of Mitchell Hamline.

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