Legal Aid lawyers approve pro-Palestinian resolution after federal judge dissolves state court order preventing vote

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In November, a state judge in New York issued a temporary restraining order barring the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, a labor union, from voting on a resolution expressing solidarity with Palestinians and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. In December, a federal judge dissolved the order, and the attorneys overwhelmingly approved the resolution.

Key Players

Twyla Carter is chief executive officer of the Legal Aid Society, a nonprofit organization in New York that provides legal services to impoverished, marginalized clients on matters involving housing, domestic violence, family law, consumer law, and public benefits. 

The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA), or the United Auto Workers Local 2325, is a union that represents about 2,700 legal and social service workers in the greater New York City area. 

Further Details

ALAA planned to vote on Nov. 17, 2023, on a resolution expressing solidarity with Palestinans and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israel’s occupation of the territory. The measure also denounced the Israeli government for allegedly engaging in apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide, and it stipulated that ALAA will oppose future military aid to Israel and join the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement.  

However, four union members from the Nassau County Legal Aid Society filed a lawsuit in state court to prevent the vote. The suit alleged that the resolution would associate Legal Aid Society attorneys with “rank antisemitism” and “forever harm [their] ability to fairly represent Jewish clients.”  

The Legal Aid Society, which is the country’s largest and oldest legal assistance provider, said in a statement that it had a longstanding policy against voicing opinions on international political events. In the days leading up to the vote, Carter and other Legal Aid Society members voiced concerns that the resolution was both antisemitic and dangerous to the organization’s fiscal interests. Four law firms had already threatened to pull funding from the ALAA if the resolution passed, potentially impacting the Legal Aid Society’s ability to offer services to marginalized individuals and communities. Carter accused the ALAA of being “selfish and privileged” and said that the statement contained “anti-semitic language and thinly veiled calls for the elimination of the state of Israel and the annihilation of the Jewish people.”  

Some ALAA members denounced the lawsuit for conflating the resolution’s criticism of the Israeli government and Zionism with attacks on the Israeli people. A large contingent of Jewish ALAA members spearheaded measures to pass the resolution. 

Outcome 

Judge temporarily blocks vote

Nassau County Judge Felice J. Muraca issued a temporary restraining order stopping the vote as it was in progress. The union asked to reopen the vote several days later, but Muraca continued her order. 

Federal judge weighs in, dissolving order, allowing vote

On Dec. 1, the case was moved to U.S. District Court, and on Dec. 6, ALAA filed a memo supporting its argument to dissolve the restraining order, saying that it was “an unconstitutional viewpoint-based prior restraint on the free expression of the Union and its members.”

Judge Nusrat Choudhury, who was appointed to the bench by President Joe Biden, dissolved the restraining order on Dec. 15. 

On Dec. 19, ALAA voted on the resolution. It passed, 1,067-570, the organization announced in a statement.