ATLANTA (AP) – A federal judge has ruled that a Georgian law requiring some people to sign an oath involving Israel is unconstitutional.
A documentary filmmaker who refused to sign the oath sued the state last year, saying the law violates freedom of expression guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
Requiring people trying to do business with the state not to participate in a boycott of Israel is “unconstitutional forced speech,” US District Court judge Mark H. Cohen wrote in his most recent verdict.
A Georgia Attorney General spokeswoman representing the defendants said she was unable to comment at the time, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Attorneys representing the state have previously said that Georgia’s law does not violate the First Amendment.
Georgia’s law, passed in 2016, requires some people to sign an oath pledging not to boycott Israel in order to do business with the state of Georgia.
In her federal lawsuit, Abby Martin says she refused to sign the oath, and her scheduled appearance at a Georgia Southern University media conference was then canceled.
The law is similar to others that have been passed in more than 20 states in recent years, including Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, and Maryland.