Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s comments on Gaza and Israel are not grounds for sanctions from the bar, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley argued Friday.
The Coolidge Reagan Foundation, a free speech advocacy group, filed a complaint with the Michigan bar Monday arguing Tlaib should be sanctioned over “several public statements evincing deeply discriminatory, antisemitic views that call into question her character and fitness to practice law.” Turley wrote that sanctions over these comments would “be inimical to free speech and pull the bar into political controversies,” though he has personally “been critical of Rep. Tlaib over her rhetoric and claims on the war.”
“This request arises from Attorney Tlaib’s false, discriminatory, and anti-Semitic comments regarding the horrific massacre and other crimes the international terrorist group Hamas ruthlessly unleashed against innocent Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, including kidnapping, rape, beheading children, burning people alive, and murdering a baby by placing him in an oven,” the complaint states, alleging these comments demonstrate a “complete disregard for the truth.”
Tlaib was censured by the House of Representatives on Oct. 7 in a 234-188 vote that included 22 Democrats. Tlaib claimed on Oct. 17 that Israel intentionally bombed a hospital and killed “500 Palestinians” and did not back down from her statement after media outlets walked back the claim, instead calling for an investigation.
“Once again, I am in accord with the Foundation in the view of Hamas as a terrorist organization,” Turley wrote. “However, the bar is not the proper forum for such controversies, in my view, and the action could make it more likely that sanctions will be used in the future against other political viewpoints. I have expressed that same discomfort with the effort to disbar many Trump lawyers over their election claims absent unethical filings or unlawful actions.”
Turley wrote that lawyers “often advocate for unpopular clients or causes” and said that disbarment threats over political advocacy would have a “chilling effect.”
“I have long disagreed with Rep. Tlaib on a host of issues, including the Hamas massacre,” he said. “However, this action would cross a dangerous line in the sanctioning of political speech in my view.”
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