A federal judge partially granted a motion Monday by San Diego’s Unified School District (SDUSD) to strike references to the Council on American Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) ties to Hamas from a lawsuit seeking to block the school system from working with CAIR.
The Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund’s (FCDF) claims the school district violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and California law by enacting a CAIR supported anti-Islamophobia/anti-bullying program last spring.
Mentioning CAIR’s Hamas ties in the litigation was “impertinent, immaterial and scandalous,” school district officials claimed in December. Including references to CAIR’s Hamas connection and the fact some of its officials had been convicted on terrorism charges is intended to “inflame the public.”
