(Baltimore Sun) A former Maryland state representative has filed a civil rights lawsuit against Gov. Larry Hogan and Attorney General Brian Frosh, taking aim at an executive order denying government contracts to businesses that boycott Israel.
The suit, filed Wednesday in federal court by Syed Saqib Ali, alleges that the Maryland leaders violated his First and 14th Amendment rights when Hogan signed an executive order in October 2017 requiring all state contractors to promise they will not boycott Israel.
“We are confident that our executive order is completely consistent with the First Amendment and will be upheld in court,” the governor’s spokeswoman Amelia Chasse said in an email Wednesday.
The office for Frosh, a Democrat, had not seen the complaint Wednesday morning and does not comment on pending litigation, spokeswoman Raquel Coombs said in an email.
(Text updated)
