Maryland’s Israel Contract Order Withstands Free-Speech Suit

Feb. 18, 2022, 7:17 PM UTC

Maryland’s executive order prohibiting boycotts of Israel by businesses that compete for contracts in that state will stand because a plaintiff challenging the order as unconstitutional lacked standing to sue, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Friday.

Plaintiff Saqib Ali, a computer software engineer, didn’t show that the order caused him to suffer a direct injury, Judge Robert B. King of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Fourth Circuit said.

Ali said the order prohibits him from bidding for a Maryland contract due to his personal boycotts of Israel-tied products.

But the order clearly says it proscribes anti-Israel national origin discrimination in ...

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