[Nine Maryland Senators from the Montgomery County County Council
have been threatening to cut funding to CASA because of a
pro-Palestinian tweet (since withdrawn). Below is a statement from
Maryland ACLU and two open letters suporting CASA.]
[[link removed]]

I STAND WITH CASA  
[[link removed]]


 

I [[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Nine Maryland Senators from the Montgomery County County Council
have been threatening to cut funding to CASA because of a
pro-Palestinian tweet (since withdrawn). Below is a statement from
Maryland ACLU and two open letters suporting CASA. _

The State of Maryland’s Wellmobile is parked outside of CASA’s
Wheaton Welcome Center during a mobile coronavirus vaccination clinin
on May 21, 2021. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.,

 

ACLU OF MARYLAND STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF CASA AND THE FIRST
AMENDMENT 

([link removed]…
[[link removed]])

The ACLU of Maryland firmly supports CASA
[[link removed]] and their fundamental First Amendment right
to issue statements of public concern in the public forum. It would be
both wrong and unconstitutional for the Montgomery County Senate
Delegation, or any government officials, to act on threats to punish
CASA based on their protected political speech.

CASA was founded by people fleeing violence in Central America, and
provides the Maryland immigrant community with basic services, jobs,
health services, and English classes, and creates the possibility for
immigrants to build the foundation for thriving in their community.
CASA builds power for positive social change from the ground up, with
an intentional focus on working class Black, Latino/a/e,
Afro-descendent, and Indigenous communities. In its statement, CASA
expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine, stating that they
“strongly support the struggle for decolonization” and
“condemn[] the outrageous attack by Hamas on Israel”, and “call
for an immediate cease-fire to save all precious life”.  

The Montgomery County Senate Delegation issued a response suggesting
that anything short of unconditional agreement with its own views
about the conflict could result in defunding CASA. The threat to
defund CASA for its statement amounts to unconstitutional viewpoint
discrimination: the government cannot favor one side of a public
debate while suppressing the other. Publicly threatening to defund an
organization because of its political position is exactly the kind of
viewpoint discrimination that the Constitution forbids, and among the
most dangerous kind of wrongdoing by public officials because it
fundamentally threatens democratic institutions, and chills not only
the direct target, but anyone else thinking about also speaking out.

Further, the Delegation’s statement directly threatens collective
punishment of the immigrant community, which has for many years relied
on and benefited from CASA’s unique, broad, and deep expertise and
impact.  The Delegation’s claims of allyship to the immigrant
community ring false, as no true advocate for the rights of Maryland
immigrants would condition support on silence and compulsory
allegiance to the government’s opinions.

To be crystal clear, CASA’s speech is fully protected under the
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Threats to terminate
contract and grant funding for statements made in the public forum on
matters of public concern fly in the face of the most basic free
speech rights, AND THE U.S. SUPREME COURT HAS SAID AS MUCH:

"It is axiomatic that the government may not regulate speech based on
its substantive content or the message it conveys. Other principles
follow from this precept. In the realm of private speech or
expression, government regulation may not favor one speaker over
another. Discrimination against speech because of its message is
presumed to be unconstitutional. These rules informed our
determination that the government offends the First Amendment when it
imposes financial burdens on certain speakers based on the content of
their expression. When the government targets not subject matter, but
particular views taken by speakers on a subject, the violation of the
First Amendment is all the more blatant. Viewpoint discrimination is
thus an egregious form of content discrimination. The government must
abstain from regulating speech when the specific motivating ideology
or the opinion or perspective of the speaker is the rationale for the
restriction."

_Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of Univ. of Virginia,_ 515 U.S.
819, 828–29 (1995) (citations omitted).

Regardless of CASA’s status as a contractor or grantee, the
government cannot seek to regulate or punish their privately funded
political speech. _See Bd. of Cnty. Comm'rs, Wabaunsee Cnty., Kan. v.
Umbehr,_ 518 U.S. 668 (1996) (county government’s decision to
terminate or not renew plaintiff’s trash hauling contract in
retaliation for his speech critical of the county commissioners
violates First Amendment on same terms as apply for government
employees); _Agency for Int'l Dev. v. All. for Open Soc'y Int'l,
Inc.,_ 570 U.S. 205 (2013) (Congress cannot require NGOS that receive
grants to combat HIV/AIDS to have a policy explicitly opposing
prostitution; government cannot seek to leverage funding to regulate
speech outside of the contours of the program being funded). Courts
have also recognized that retaliatory nonrenewal of grant funding
based on the viewpoint expressed violates the First Amendment. _See,
e.g., Esperanza Peace & Just. Ctr. v. City of San Antonio,_ 316 F.
Supp. 2d 433, 436-64 (W.D. Tex. 2001) (city’s decision to
discontinue grant funding for arts organization in retaliation for
their LGBTQ+ advocacy in their grant funded programming punished them
for their viewpoint in violation of First Amendment). There can be no
doubt that CASA’s statement expressing solidarity with the
Palestinian people is purely political speech that is not part of the
government funded immigrant services they provide. It is equally clear
that the Delegation’s threat to cease funding CASA’s work is
explicitly tied to that private political speech.

The Delegation’s improper threats put all advocacy organizations,
student organizations, and individual advocates on high alert that the
Senate Delegation will seek to use their official authority to silence
people who disagree with them. The Delegation should retract its
threat to defund CASA and refrain from further abuses of their
authority. The immigrant community, the AMEMSA (Arab, Middle Eastern,
Muslim, and South Asian) community, and any others who fear expressing
their First Amendment protected political views deserve better.
Marylanders must be entitled to express First Amendment protected
political views without fear of government reprisal.  

Just as the ACLU acted to protect the Constitution in the wake of
September 11 and resisted former President Trump’s Muslim Ban, we
will oppose unlawful efforts to shut down and chill speech aligning
with AMEMSA and other BIPOC communities whose views do not align with
the government’s in this political debate.  

Make no mistake, if retaliatory action is taken to defund the
essential services that CASA provides to the immigrant community, we
will respond accordingly.

_The ACLU of Maryland exists to empower Marylanders to exercise their
rights [[link removed]] so that the law
values and uplifts their humanity. Our vision is for Maryland’s
people to be united in affirming and exercising their rights in order
to address inequities and fulfill the country’s unrealized promise
of justice and freedom for all._

 

OPEN LETTER IN SUPPORT OF CASA

([link removed]
[[link removed]])

Dear Montgomery County Senate Delegation:

We are deeply concerned and demand a retraction of your November 8th
public letter which explicitly threatens the immigration rights
non-profit, CASA, by stating that you intend to “re-evaluate”
their legislative funding. The reason is because they expressed their
support of Palestinian human rights and grief over Israel’s bombing
and cutting off of food, water and electricity in Gaza.

While your threat targets CASA directly, it also threatens thousands
of immigrants and low-income communities that rely on CASA’s safety
net and advocacy services. And your statement further sends a
“chilling effect” to the growing (and now even majority) number
of Americans
[[link removed]] who
want the genocidal attacks on Gaza to stop and have been expressing
sentiments similar to those in CASA’s tweet.

It is sadly ironic that your letter boasts
[[link removed]] that
you “support freedom of speech” when in fact, the letter itself
has the specific intent of leveraging your governmental power to
punish an organization that expresses an opinion that differs from
yours. The very action that the First Amendment was written to
outlaw. FOLLOWING THROUGH ON THIS THREAT WOULD BE AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL
CONDITION ON A PUBLIC BENEFIT.

 It is also important to call out the racial underpinnings of your
letter. CASA’s tweet noted that “the Palestinian struggle mirrors
our own.” Simply put, their statement reflects the lens of their
lived experience. In clamping down on criticisms of Israel and support
of Palestinian human rights, you now have also dismissed the
collective lived experience of those who are not in seats of power,
and have been personally impacted by colonialism. Because their truth
differs from yours, it must be discounted.

Several of you also have histories that span more than a decade of
demonizing Palestinian human rights activists. For example, in 2014,
Archbishop Desmond Tutu personally called out
[[link removed]] one
of you because you had been referring to Palestinian human rights
advocates as Nazis
[[link removed]] and
members of the Ku Klux Klan. In another example, one of
you deliberately darkened a photo
[[link removed]] of
an activist for Palestine who was challenging you in a primary
election.

 In the closing of your letter, you state that you hope your
reprimand of CASA will be a “learning opportunity” for them. This
statement is incredibly paternalistic. Further, the lesson that your
letter teaches is that elected officials in Montgomery County have a
contempt for our foundational civil liberties; and a politicized
compassion that is tone deaf to how occupation and colonialism factor
into the narrative fabric of marginalized communities, like those from
Latin America and Palestine.  

WE DEMAND THAT YOU RETRACT YOUR NAME FROM THE LETTER AND AFFIRM YOUR
SUPPORT FOR THE CIVIL LIBERTIES OF ALL MONTGOMERY ORGANIZATIONS AND
RESIDENTS, NOT MERELY THE ONES THAT YOU AGREE WITH.

Sincerely,

350.0rg

Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee (Maryland Chapter)

Arab American Institute

Arab Word Studies, American University

Backbone Campaign

Baltimore City Green Party

Baltimore County Young Democrats

Baltimore Nonviolence Center

Baltimore Palestine Solidarity

Baltimore Peace Action

Baltimore Phil Berrigan Memorial Veterans For Peace

Baltimore Student Union

Baltimore Women in Black

Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition

BIPOC MOCO Green New Deal Interns (Montgomery County)

Bridge America

Casa Baltimore Limay

Caucus of African American Leaders

Community Actively Seeking Transparency (CAST)

Defending Rights and Dissent

Diaspora Pa’lante Collective

Episcopal Peace Fellowship-Palestine-Israel Network

Faith Strategies

Friends of Latin America

Friends of Sabeel North America (Palestinian Christians)

Friends of Wadi Foquin (under the United Methodist Church’s General
Board of Global Ministries)

Harriet’s Wildest Dreams

Indian American Muslim Council

Johns Hopkins University Arab Society Club

June and July Therapy

Justice for All

Maryland2Palestine

Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition

Montgomery County DSA

Montgomery College Muslim Student Association

National Arab American Medical Association

National Domestic Workers Alliance

National Lawyer’s Guild, DC Chapter

The Noor Center

No Separate Justice

Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace

Palestine Legal

Palestinian Youth Movement – DMV Chapter

Pax Christi, Metro DC- Baltimore

Pax Christi, USA

Peace Action Montgomery

Peace Action, USA

Peace and Justice Coalition of Prince Georges County

Progressive Democrats of Howard County

Progressive Maryland

Resource Generation, Baltimore Chapter

Runners4Justice

ShutDown DC

Students for Justice in Palestine, Howard University

Students for Justice in Palestine, American University

Showing Up for Racial Justice Annapolis and Anne Arundel County
(SURJ3A)

Towson Young Democratic Socialists of America

US Campaign for Palestinian Human Rights

Walt Whitman High School Muslim Student Association

Virginia Coalition for Human Rights

WRITE! for Justice, Human Rights, and International Law in Palestine

SIGNATORIES (IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY)

Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, Pastor Emeritus, Plymouth Congregational
United Church of Christ

Steve Sosebee, President, the Palestine Children’s Relief
Organization

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: NOT IN OUR NAME

([link removed]-…
[[link removed]])

BY DR. ZACKARY BERGER, BALTIMORE; KAREN CAPLAN, SILVER SPRING; RABBI
ARIANA KATZ, BALTIMORE; MICHAEL RUBIN, TAKOMA PARK; JOANNA SILVER,
SILVER SPRING; AND DR. KATE SUGARMAN, POTOMAC. 

We are Jewish organizers and activists who have worked closely with
CASA for years in its efforts to support Maryland’s immigrant
communities. We have always found CASA to be an organization that acts
with respect, solidarity, and love for people of all backgrounds. We
are outraged that elected officials are weaponizing Jewish pain in the
wake of the recent atrocities by Hamas to attack and undermine CASA in
response to its tweets criticizing Israel and calling for a ceasefire.
To be clear: As Jews, there was nothing in CASA’s statements that we
found to be antisemitic or hateful.

For the last few weeks, thousands of Jews around the country have
raised their voices in support of Palestinian lives and demanded a
ceasefire. They — and we — understand that the use of strong
language to express outrage at the conduct of the Israeli government
does not equate to antisemitism, and that an insistence on seeing this
conflict in its full historical context is not antisemitic. In the
weeks since October 7th, several of us have attended large,
multi-ethnic and multi-religious protests and have been met only with
respect and support by non-Jewish attendees who, like us, want to
prevent any more loss of life.

Instead of engaging with CASA staff with the respect they deserve as
partners working for the well-being of Maryland’s immigrants, every
state senator from Montgomery County and at least one county
councilmember has now threatened to withhold funding from CASA.
Let’s be clear about what this means — CASA receives state and
county funding because it provides direct services to highly
vulnerable immigrant families, assisting them with housing conditions,
wage theft, English language learning, and much more. What these
elected officials seem to be saying is that these vital support
services are less important than a single political statement.

Across America, people criticizing Israel have been harassed,
threatened, and fired from their jobs, and it is unconscionable that
elected officials from Montgomery County are joining in this
McCarthy-like behavior. Some of these officials are Jewish, but we
emphatically reject any assumption that they speak for all Jews in
Maryland — they do not. We are outraged that our own elected
officials are threatening to silence CASA because they expressed a
view of the violence in Israel/Palestine that may be different from
their own. We are also concerned that these public condemnations do
not reflect authentic disagreements, but are political opportunism of
the worst kind — a chance to weaken a bold, immigrant-led
organization that has at times differed with some of these
policy-makers on critical issues like rent stabilization, healthcare
expansion, and immigration detention.

In the Mishna, a core Jewish religious text, we are taught that when
someone wrongs us but makes a sincere apology, we are obligated to
accept that apology. CASA has fully apologized for any harm their
original statement may have caused, retracted it, and engaged in good
faith dialogue and efforts towards repair. To bear a grudge against
them through these continued public attacks is a violation of Jewish
values and religious teachings.

To those who attempt to subvert Jewish values to harm an organization
that is essential to the well-being of Maryland’s most vulnerable
community members, we say: not in our name. We call on our elected
officials to retract their statements, to make clear that CASA’s
funding will be safe, and to affirm their commitment to listen to all
the Marylanders that they represent.

_We are joined by many other Jewish activists and organizers from
around the state including Keren Cabral, Silver Spring; Mara
Greengrass, Rockville; Eileen Hollander, Silver Spring; Elissa Laitin,
Silver Spring; Michele Levy, Baltimore; Zev Rose, Wheaton; Evan
Serpick, Baltimore; Max Socol, Silver Spring; Louise Weissman,
Greenbelt; and Nicole Zimmerman, Silver Spring._

 

* Free Speech
[[link removed]]
* Palestine
[[link removed]]
* immigrant rights
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]

Manage subscription
[[link removed]]

Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]