WESTFIELD, NJ — An appeals court should overturn last month’s ruling, by the state School Ethics Commission, that a Westfield School Board member’s social media posts critical of Israel did not violate her ethical obligations, says an organization that helped file the ethics complaint.
That organization — The Deborah Project — filed a Notice of Appeal with the state Superior Court Appellate Division on Jan. 16. It wants the court to overturn the Dec. 19 decision by the School Ethics Commission (SEC).
The Deborah Project represents Stephanie Siegel, who took issue with the online activity of Westfield School Board Member Sahar Aziz, contending Aziz’s activity on Twitter were antisemitic, offensive and undermined the stature of the school board.
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The SEC dismissed the complaint finding, in essence, that Aziz’s actions were protected by the First Amendment and did not violate the ethical obligations of a school board member because they could not be seen as being related to her role on the board.
In the Notice of Appeal, the Deborah Project asserts it can prove the SEC made a number of errors, including its finding that Aziz’s “offensive and distasteful comments criticizing Israel’s existence and policies do not qualify as private action that may compromise the board” in Westfield.
“What happens next is that the court will send to the parties (i.e. Stephanie Siegel and Sahar Aziz) a briefing schedule, laying out when each side has to file their briefs,” explained Lori Lowenthal Marcus, a lawyer with The Deborah Project. “Once briefing is completed, the court will schedule oral argument on the appeal.”
“Controversial and Likely Offensive” Behavior
At the heart of the initial ethics complaint were Aziz’s tweets and retweets on Twitter of topics related to Israel and Palestine as well as her decision to sign a pledge entitled “Palestine & Praxis: Scholars for Palestinian Freedom.”
Although it concurred with the complaint’s assertions that Aziz’s actions were “controversial and likely perceived as offensive and hurtful to members of the District’s Jewish community,” the SEC found no proof that they undermined trust in the board or negatively impacted its ability to engage with the public.
“As a general matter, a school official does not violate the Act merely because he/she engages in social media activity,” the SEC wrote. “Instead, the Commission’s analysis is guided by whether a reasonable member of the public could perceive that the school official is speaking in his or her official capacity or pursuant to his or her official duties.”
In the Notice of Appeal, The Deborah Project said it intends to show the SEC “erroneously” found Aziz did not violate the school board code of ethics’ when it said the code is not violated “unless a statement unrelated to an official’s legal duties is facially discriminatory and is targeted at an individual rather than a group” and if “it requires any amount of interpretation to figure out what the official meant and/or targets groups.”
It also will argue the SEC “erred by concluding that Respondent’s posts did not relate to the business of the School Board when those comments directly addressed, inter alia, the content of curriculum ‘in the classroom’ and the bias to be tolerated in educators.”
The Deborah Project said the commission should have followed the guidance of a 1986 ruling “that government has the right and need to ensure its officials act in a way that does not interfere with the government’s ability to provide the services it is supposed to deliver, even if that requires limiting their speech rights.”
Aziz did not respond to an email request for comment in time for publication, nor did her lawyer, Matthew Giacobbe. However, in a past interview, Aziz (stipulating she was speaking in her personal capacity and not as a representative of the school board) said the SEC’s action was a victory for free speech.
“I’m glad to see that the School Ethics Commission respects free speech rights, and its decision is consistent with those legal principles and American values,” Aziz said. “I interpret the decision as evidence that the motivation behind this complaint was never about antisemitism, but more about Islamophobia, specifically by targeting and harassing and attempting to intimidate the first and only Muslim Arab woman elected to the school board.”
Marcus said The Deborah Project “feels confident that the New Jersey Superior Court will apply the law and the case precedent directly on point,” adding that, “When it does so, it will hold, consistent with the New Jersey School Ethics Commission's finding that statements made by Sahar Aziz were ‘likely perceived as offensive and hurtful to members of [Westfield's] Jewish community,’ that Aziz has violated her ethical obligations as a Westfield School Board member.”
