
Update: On February 12, 2021, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an Arkansas law requiring government contractors to pledge not to boycott Israel or reduce their fees by 20 percent violates the First Amendment. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Arkansas Times LP, which was penalized by the government after it refused to certify that it is not boycotting Israel or Israel-controlled territories.
Calling the law an unconstitutional tax on free speech, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas filed suit challenging a state law that requires government contractors to pledge not to boycott Israel or reduce their fees by 20 percent. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Arkansas Times LP, asserts that the law (Act 710), which took effect in August 2017, violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution by suppressing one side of a public debate and imposing a tax on constitutionally-protected free speech.