(WASHINGTON, DC, 4/5/2022) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, argued yesterday before the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on behalf of Bahia Amawi, defending an Austin, Texas, federal court’s decision to award Amawi more than $140,000 for costs and attorney fees after winning her landmark First Amendment victory against the State of Texas, which found Texas’s Anti-BDS law unconstitutional.  

LISTEN: Oral Argument Audio  

https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/OralArgRecordings/21/21-50360_4-4-2022.MP3

Bahia Amawi is a speech pathologist at a public school in Texas who refused to sign a contract extension because it required her to swear that she would not boycott the State of Israel.  

Instead, CAIR filed suit on her behalf and won an injunction. The injunction allowed her to sign a contract without a promise not to boycott Israel. A week after she signed the contract, the State of Texas amended its Anti-BDS Law so that it would not apply to individuals, like Amawi.   

SEE: Elementary School Speech Pathologist Refused to Sign a Pro-Israel Oath, So She Lost Her Job 

SEE ALSO: CAIR Wins Landmark First Amendment Victory Striking Down Texas Anti-BDS Law  

The district court awarded Amawi fees as a “prevailing party” in bringing a civil rights lawsuit, and the state of Texas appealed. The State of Texas argued that because the state mooted the case shortly after she won a preliminary injunction, she never obtained finality on the decision, and therefore Texas should be relieved of the duty to pay.  

“If Bahia, who was granted a preliminary injunction and forced the state to change the anti-BDS law, is not a prevailing party, then precious few if anyone will be,” said Justin Sadowsky, a CAIR Trial Attorney who argued the case on behalf of Amawi. “Her victory was significant, and we hope the court recognizes that by affirming the district court’s fee award.”  

“If the court allows the state to avoid a fee award by simply changing the law whenever it loses before that loss becomes completely set in stone, then everyone’s constitutional rights will suffer,” said CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri. “We hope the Fifth Circuit does the right thing and protects the Constitution.”   

She noted that earlier this year, CAIR welcomed a victory in its First Amendment lawsuit on behalf of an engineering firm, owned by Rasmy Hassouna, that refused to sign an anti-BDS loyalty oath to Israel as part of the company’s contract with the city of Houston, Texas.  

CAIR called a proposed bill in Georgia to implement an anti-BDS law “a doomed effort” after a federal court ruled the original version of the law in that state was unconstitutional.   

SEE: Civil Rights Groups Condemn Georgia House Bill 383 as ‘Doomed’ Effort to Save State’s Unconstitutional Anti-Boycott Law   

The Georgia chapter of CAIR, CAIR Legal Defense Fund and the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) welcomed a “major victory” in their lawsuit against Georgia’s Israel boycott law after a federal district court ruled that the State of Georgia’s 2016 law punishing boycotts of Israel is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.     

SEE: CAIR & PCJF Win ‘Major Victory’ in Federal Lawsuit Against Georgia’s Anti-Israel Boycott Law; Court Rules Anti-BDS Law Violates the First Amendment    

CAIR, the American Civil Liberties Union, and other civil rights organizations have filed free speech lawsuits against anti-BDS laws in Georgia, Arkansas, Arizona, Maryland, and Texas, where CAIR won a landmark legal victory in 2019.     

CAIR’s mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.  

La misión de CAIR es mejorar la comprensión del Islam, proteger las libertades civiles, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.  

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CONTACT:  CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas, 720-251-0425, gabbas@cair.com; CAIR Trial Attorney Justin Sadowsky, 202-752-6440, jsadowsky@cair.com