Letter to the Department of Justice chief explains that the coordinated actions of five anti-Israel campus groups at Columbia deprived Jewish and Israeli students of their civil rights, which should trigger immediate enforcement of the “KKK Laws,” an investigation, and, if applicable, prosecutions under the law.
July 17, 2024 – StandWithUs and the Zachor Legal Institute (“Zachor”) sent a legal demand letter on July 17, 2024, to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) requesting the immediate enforcement of 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 and 245, federal criminal laws colloquially known as the “KKK Laws,” at Columbia University. The letter urges such action to remedy the deprivation of Jewish students’ rights and ensure their equal participation on campus in educational programs.
This letter follows two actions by Zachor and StandWithUs respectively: (1) on March 25, 2024, Zachor sent a prosecution request on behalf of 29 organizations regarding antisemitism on college campuses nationally, and (2) on June 17, 2024, the law firm of Kasowitz Benson Torres filed an amended federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against Columbia University and Barnard College on behalf of the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice (SCLJ) and over 40 Jewish and Israeli plaintiffs. The lawsuit , which seeks injunctive relief and damages, alleges violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, breach of contract, and a conspiracy to deny Jewish students’ civil rights under the civil components of the KKK laws.
StandWithUs and Zachor’s letter issued on July 17, 2024, asks the DOJ to apply the criminal KKK laws and prosecute five groups operating on the Columbia campus, based on facts alleged in the lawsuit’s amended complaint .
“We hope the Department of Justice will take this opportunity to restore justice on Columbia University’s campuses and hold bad actors responsible for violating federal laws,” said Yael Lerman, Director of the StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department. “Columbia President Shafik’s concession that Columbia is a hostile environment for Jewish students in violation of Title VI reflects a critical need for the current administration to take decisive action at Columbia. We urge the DOJ to investigate the school’s failure to prevent groups and individuals on its campus from joining forces and depriving Jewish students of their civil rights, a failure that runs afoul of the KKK laws.”
Notably the Department of Justice has not yet publicly announced using this strategy to restore order to college campuses and bring justice to victimized students, despite doing so in similar cases of interference with the operations of abortion clinics. StandWithUs and Zachor’s letter stresses the current urgency of this issue, stating, “We are now living in a historical moment where the DOJ can take decisive action, using existing laws, to protect one of the most vulnerable groups in the country.”
Read the letter HERE .
Zachor Legal Institute is a non-profit civil rights legal advocacy organization that focuses on combating antisemitism and disrupting terror financing. More at www.zachorlegal.org .
StandWithUs is an international, non-partisan education organization that supports Israel and fights antisemitism. StandWithUs empowers and energizes students and communities with leadership training and educational programs on hundreds of college campuses, high schools, and middle schools. StandWithUs informs through social media, print and digital materials, films, weekly newsletters, and missions to Israel. StandWithUs takes legal action
through the StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization has chapters and offices throughout the U.S., Israel, the UK, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Australia. More at www.standwithus.com .
