Rajeh A. Saadeh v. New Jersey State Bar Association

On March 17, 2026, Do No Harm, together with Students for Fair Admissions and the American Alliance for Equal Rights filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court in support of a lawsuit challenging the New Jersey State Bar Association’s discriminatory set asides for board seats. The case, Saadeh v. New Jersey State Bar Association, raises an important issue: whether the First Amendment creates a general right to racially discriminate.

A New Jersey state appellate court determined that it does and permitted the New Jersey State Bar defendants to invoke the Free Speech Clause as a defense to their racially discriminatory preferences for selecting board members.

As defendants scramble to keep unlawful DEI policies in play, many now regularly seek to evade racial nondiscrimination laws and Supreme Court precedent through a purported First Amendment right to discriminate as their “expression.” But there is a difference between expressing beliefs and practicing them.

Do No Harm’s amicus brief urges the Court to grant certiorari in the case—explaining why any claimed First Amendment right to racially discriminate immediately fails logic and violates established precedent, and highlighting the need for Supreme Court clarity on the matter.