Students Sue CUNY Law School Over Ban On Commencement Speakers, Claiming Move Is Anti-Palestinian

New York Post, Students Sue CUNY Law School Over Ban on Commencement Speakers, Claiming Move Is Anti-Palestinian:

Eight CUNY Law School students are suing the embattled institution claiming it violated federal censorship rules by nixing student-selected speakers, who have recently been anti-Israel, at commencement.

The left-leaning institution’s ban was imposed after graduate Fatima Mousa Mohammed gave a hate-filled speech last spring bashing Israel, “white supremacy” in America and the “fascist” NYPD.

The students’ suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, alleges the “repression” of free speech and “unlawful termination” of two customs for the publicly funded City University of New York’s law-school commencement: the student-elected speakers and the live-streaming and recording of the event.

The plaintiffs allege that CUNY is censoring speech that supports “Palestinian freedom.”

This year’s CUNY Law graduation ceremony will be held May 23 at the Apollo theater in Harlem in Manhattan.

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• New York Times, CUNY Law Graduate's Commencement Speech Denouncing Israel And NYPD Is Condemned By Administration; Faculty Demands Apology From Administration (June 5, 2023)
• ABA Journal, CUNY Law School Is Latest Front In Culture War (June 10, 2023)