The Brandeis Brief: March 2025

February has been a short but busy and impactful month for the Brandeis Center. We proudly launched the Center for Legal Innovation, designed to advance legal strategies that protect civil rights and combat all forms of anti-Semitism. We are getting started by representing a father who faced anti-Semitic discrimination while he was with his son at a California coffee shop. Also this month, we secured an important settlement in our case against Santa Ana Public Schools, which are now prevented from teaching anti-Semitic ethnic studies material. Experts from the Brandeis Center continue to educate the community to ensure that Jewish and Israeli individuals understand their rights and where they can turn to for support. You can catch up on past events or join us for the next event in your area.

In this issue:

The Brandeis Center Launches Public Interest Law Firm to Specialize in Anti-Semitism Litigation
A new public interest litigation group within the Brandeis Center, the Center for Legal Innovation (CLI), will use the law to combat all forms of anti-Semitism, such as anti-Semitism that occurs in such sectors as the workplace, housing, healthcare, public accommodations, government services, unions, academia, and corporations. 

“The American Jewish community needs a public interest law firm that takes litigation efforts beyond education-focused Title VI complaints to a host of other areas where Jews are being unfairly and illegally discriminated against and harassed. This means standing up for individual victims as well as going after groups, companies, and organizations that are funding, organizing, and enabling illegal anti-Semitic activity. We have learned from history that we cannot sit idly by. The law is on our side, and we will use it against those threatening Jewish people’s constitutional rights,” shared Brandeis Center Founder and Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. 

CLI is also guided by an expert advisory board, and its litigators include former criminal prosecutors, heads of prominent litigation departments, and leading experts in constitutional and civil rights law.

 

Oakland Father Suing Coffee Shop Over Anti-Semitic Discrimination


In one of CLI’s first cases, the Brandeis Center is representing a Jewish father who, along with his 5-year-old son, was kicked out of an Oakland café for wearing a Star of David hat. The Brandeis Center is preparing to file a lawsuit against the Jerusalem Coffee House, alleging civil rights violations on behalf of plaintiff Jonathan Hirsch. As Senior Counsel Omer Wiczyk stated, “This is America. You don’t get to refuse service to Jews.”

Santa Ana Public Schools Prevented from Teaching Anti-Semitic Ethnic Studies

As part of a settlement that resolves the lawsuit brought by the Brandeis Center and partner organizations, Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) will cease instruction of courses that contained false and damaging narratives about Israel and the Jewish people, including anti-Semitic content. 

“Ethnic studies should never become a vehicle for sneaking dangerous, anti-Semitic materials into our schools. That is the law, plain and simple, and we’re glad to have stopped this in Santa Ana schools” said Brandeis Center Vice Chair L. Rachel Lerman.

Marci Miller, Director of Legal Investigations, added, “we hope this is a cautionary tale to all the districts in California and anyone else who’s hoping to infuse ethnic studies with antisemitism, especially if they’re doing it in secret.” The Brandeis Center thanks the partnership from ADL, AJC, StandWithUs, and Covington & Burling LLP on this important case.

 

The Brandeis Center Commends OCR Investigations into Anti-Semitism
 The Brandeis Center applauded the announcement by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that it has proactively launched investigations into anti-Semitism at five higher education campuses. 

“This is exactly the right step to be taking and the right time to be taking it. The administration is sending a clear message to the higher education community that the U.S. Department of Education is prioritizing the current anti-Semitism crisis,” said Kenneth L. Marcus, Founder and Chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights who ran OCR for Presidents Bush and Trump. “Rather than sitting back and waiting for complaints to pile up, federal investigators are finally doing their jobs: identifying colleges that need to be investigated, and taking firm, public measures where needed. The cavalry has arrived. The Brandeis Center has been urging this approach since October 7, 2023, and we were repeatedly disappointed that the prior administration failed to accept our recommendation.” 

OCR announced its investigations will target a variety of universities, both public and private, ivies and non-ivies, from geographically diverse regions. Some, like UC Berkeley and Columbia University, are clearly ripe for investigation following public attention to the rampant and ongoing anti-Semitic activity on those campuses. Other universities that OCR is investigating have remained under the public radar which underscores not only the pervasive nature of campus anti-Semitism, but also OCR’s attention to Jewish students throughout the country, at all universities, not just a handful of prominent ones. The Brandeis Center is encouraged to see the Trump administration take early, affirmative steps that reach beyond the Biden administrations reactive responses to OCR complaints. 

Upcoming Event: Stand Up to Anti-Semitism in Brooklyn Public Schools


On Tuesday, March 12 at 6:00 PM, join attorneys from the Brandeis Center’s new Center for Legal Innovation, along with Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, to learn about your rights and pro-bono resources.  With the rise in anti-Semitism, far too many students and their families have been victims of anti-Semitic discrimination, whether in schools or outside them. The lawyers at the Center for Legal Innovation, a non-profit organization recently assembled as part of the Brandeis Center’s work to combat anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment, are available to provide pro-bono legal support and counsel to victims of anti-Semitism and to educate students about their rights under the law.  SIGN UP HERE to join us for a meeting about anti-Semitism in Brooklyn public schools and to learn about the resources and support available to you. This event is open to students, parents, or others affiliated with any Brooklyn, NY public schools. 

Alyza Lewin at Touro Law Center

Earlier this month, Brandeis Center’s President Alyza Lewin spoke at Touro Law Center’s two-day symposium on “Academics, Lawyers & Government – Who’s Leading Higher Education in the 21st Century?” In a panel about discrimination in higher education, Lewin offered remarks on anti-Semitism on college campuses and how the growing problem has impacted students today. Watch her full remarks here: