Free Speech issue image

Pluecker v. Paxton

Location: Texas
Status: Closed (Judgment)
Last Update: May 9, 2019

What's at Stake

On December 18, 2018, The 老澳门开奖结果 and 老澳门开奖结果 of Texas filed a lawsuit challenging a state law that requires government contractors to certify that they are not engaged in boycotts of Israel or territories controlled by Israel. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of four Texans, argues that the law, HB 89, which went into effect last year, violates the First Amendment鈥檚 protection against government intrusion into political speech.

The 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 lawsuit was brought on behalf of four people who were forced under the law to choose between signing the certification or forgoing professional opportunities and losing income: John Pluecker, a freelance writer who lost two service contracts from the University of Houston; George Hale, a reporter for KETR who was forced to sign the certification against his conscience in order to keep his job; Obinna Dennar, a Ph.D. candidate at Rice University, who was forced to forfeit payment for judging at a debate tournament; and Zachary Abdelhadi, a student at Texas State University, who has had to forego opportunities to judge high school debate tournaments.

On April 25, 2019, a federal court in Texas blocked HB 89 and stated that the law 鈥渢hreatens 鈥榯o suppress unpopular ideas鈥 and 鈥榤anipulate the public debate through coercion rather than persuasion鈥欌 and that 鈥渘o amount of narrowing its application will cure its constitutional infirmity.鈥

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