The Volokh Conspiracy

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent

Free Speech

Profs. Dorf & Koppelman on Anti-BDS Laws

A couple of posts prompted by an error (since corrected) in an article that cited our brief.

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Profs. Michael C. Dorf (Cornell), Andrew Koppelman (Northwestern), and I have filed a couple of amicus briefs arguing that anti-BDS laws (laws that require government contractors to certify that they aren't boycotting Israel) generally don't violate the First Amendment (see, e.g., here, plus this follow-up post from Mike). A Harvard Law Review unsigned student note described us as supporters of such laws, apparently assuming that, since we thought the laws were constitutional, we thought they were wise.

After we pointed out the error, the editors promptly corrected the online versions of the note; but this prompted Mike and Andy to post further on the subject, explaining that they don't endorse such laws as a policy matter. (My own inclination is to be skeptical of such laws, too, even when limited to conditions on government contracts, though my views on the subject are not firm, at least when applied to large contracts with large organizations.) In any event, if you're interested in the laws, please check out Mike's and Andy's follow-up posts.