FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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September 3, 2025
Washington, D.C. | The American‑Arab Anti‑Discrimination Committee (ADC) has tapped Jenin Younes as its new National Legal Director. Younes brings a national reputation for First Amendment advocacy, defending individuals from unconstitutional government action, and a winning record of taking government censorship schemes to court. She helped steer the landmark social‑media “jawboning” case Murthy v. Missouri – the government’s attempts to pressure companies to censor users’ speech – to the U.S. Supreme Court, and secured a preliminary injunction for physicians challenging California’s speech‑restrictive AB 2098 in Hoeg v. Newsom.
“ADC exists to defend constitutionally protected civil rights, and that starts with defending speech,” said ADC National Executive Director, Abed Ayoub. “Jenin brings the resolve and courtroom experience we need to push back against attempts to criminalize or civilly punish dissent. We will meet those attempts in court, in legislatures, and in the public square.”
A Palestinian-American whose father grew up in the occupied West Bank, Younes was raised with a deep awareness of the injustices faced by Palestinians. She also witnessed how both formal and informal censorship mechanisms worked to silence criticism of Israel, leaving Americans with a distorted, one-sided perspective on the issue.
On her mission as ADC’s National Legal Director, Younes emphasized: “The First Amendment doesn’t exist to protect popular speech accepted by the majority– such views are not in need of protection. The purpose of the First Amendment’s free speech clause is–to protect dissent. Whether the government suppresses speech by threatening to deport critics of Israel or pressuring social media companies to censor debate online, these are unconstitutional attacks on the foundation of democracy. My aim at ADC is to meet all of these threats to free speech head-on, whatever form they may take, and to protect the right of Americans to criticize US foreign policy–including our policy as it relates to Israel-Palestine”
Younes starts her work at ADC by filing a motion to reconsider as co-counsel in Kimmara Sumrall v. Janine Ali in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The suit stems from a confrontation between Ms. Sumrall and Ms. Ali inside the Dirksen Senate Office Building on November 13, 2024, during dueling demonstrations over the war in Gaza. In the new filing, Ms. Ali, through her attorneys, asks the court to correct legal errors in its August 4, 2025 Memorandum Order, and to recognize that federal civil rights statutes cannot be stretched to apply to constitutionally protected political expression by individuals. Ignoring a criminal court judge’s acquittal of Ms. Ali, the federal court simply accepted Ms. Sumrall’s version of events, in contravention of the governing legal standards. The motion also explains that the federal court’s grant of a preliminary injunction was based on conflating criticism of the Israeli government with unlawful discrimination against Jewish individuals. The ruling ultimately invites a speech‑policing regime that the First Amendment forbids.
“ADC will not allow anyone to launder viewpoint discrimination through civil rights law,” said Younes. “When officials or courts start treating anti‑Zionism as antisemitism, they punish dissent and collapse the distinction between ideas and identity. The Constitution does not permit that. We intend to defend that line in every forum that matters.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Younes challenged government restrictions that violated constitutional rights under the guise of furthering public health. At NCLA, she litigated against government imposedCovid-19 vaccine mandates, and led a successful effort to block California’s law that sought to punish doctors for sharing information with patients deemed “misinformation” about COVID-19. She later served as senior special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee’s Weaponization of Government Subcommittee, investigating the federal government’s role in online censorship.
“Jenin built her career defending people against unconstitutional government action, has argued for robust speech protections across ideologies, and has engaged the public on complex legal issues through vigorous debate and writing,” Ayoub added. “She now brings that commitment to ADC’s national docket and its rapid‑response defense of protest, advocacy, and academic freedom. We are honored to have her lead our legal work.”