8th District congressional candidate Mussab Ali has filed a federal lawsuit against the Jersey City Board of Education and its elected members, alleging they violated Ali’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution via a property ban.
By Dan Israel/Hudson County View
“This case is about what happens when government officials use the machinery of a public
school board to silence a community leader and, in doing so, strip him of his right to
speak, his right to assemble, his right to vote, and his good name,” the six-count lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Newark today, says.
The litigation arises from the Board’s February 19th vote to ban Ali from all Jersey City public school property, as HCV first reported, which passed without notice, without investigation, and without giving Ali any opportunity to be heard, today’s lawsuit contends.
The vote followed his presence at a February 13th student-led, walkout from Ferris, Snyder, Dickinson, and County Prep High Schools to Jersey City City Hall against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which the BOE claimed was orchestrated by Ali.
However, Ali, a former Jersey City BOE president, maintains that he did not organize the walkout, but was invited by two Ferris High School student organizers to help with “public-facing organizational tasks” so they can remain anonymous, as well as avoid “interference and reprisals.”
According to the lawsuit, the district took steps to discourage students from participating, threatened them with suspension, and levied other consequences affecting their graduation and participation in other school events.
Some schools allegedly locked students in the building to prevent them from leaving, which Ali told Velazquez at the time was a fire and safety hazard.
Students also asked he promote the event on his social media, but Ali posits he was never on school property.
“At their request, Ali contacted the City of Jersey City, the Jersey City Police Department,
and other relevant authorities to ensure that the protest would be orderly and that the
students would be protected,” the lawsuit says.
“City Hall asked Ali to co-sign the event permit for the demonstration, which Ali did in his capacity as the students’ adult representative and advocate. All other plans and preparations were carried out by the students and other supporters.”
The suit also denotes that four City Council members participated in the same demonstration, yet none of them were banned from school property.
While she asked if students could remain in class until dismissal, Ali told BOE President Noemi Velazquez that students had determined that timing and that it would carry more “civic weight and visibility” to protest during school hours.
The next day, the lawsuit claims that Velazquez posted statements on social media alleging Ali was behind the walkout, having convinced students to participate and push security guards, which led to the defendant being berated via text.
“Considering the lucrative education you’ve acquired, you should use it to build a
solid respectable legacy and maybe you will gain the respect from the community …
Furthermore, having had cancer is NOT a prerequisite for a political career,” she allegedly wrote at the time.
” … But when you exploit it … it hurts those of [sic] who are enduring it … Please stop!” (emphasis in original). Ali did not respond.”
However, days after the student-led demonstration at a board meeting, the lawsuit states that BOE Vice President Dejon Morris publicly accused Ali of putting together the event himself and “intimidating” and “manipulating” students into participating.
Morris further claimed Ali was a “threat,” and a “danger to students” because of his participation, then making a verbal motion to ban Ali from every school building in Jersey City absent specific written permission from Superintendent of Schools Norma Fernandez.
The resolution states Ali’s actions put him “in direct violation of the code of conduct and rules of regulation for the board of education,” something he claims he is not subject to as a private citizen.
According to the lawsuit, while the board voted 6-3 to approve the resolution, the audience apparently booed as Morris announced Ali would received a cease and desist letter from Board Attorney Robert Pruchnik.
Afterwards, Ali was informed of the decision moments later over the phone by a reporter.
The lawsuit states that the Board Pruchnik told Ali that he should email the board, yet it took three months of follow up emails and texts for Pruchnik to finally send him the resolution over email one month later.
Ali alleges he was never formally served, and the resolution is still not posted on the board’s website, something the lawsuit reiterated is required under the Open Public Meetings Act.
The complaint further alleges that the ban has effectively stripped Ali of his right to vote in person for the Democratic primary on June 2nd, despite being a candidate, since he cannot enter any Jersey City public schools without written permission.
According to Ali, Fernandez has denied every prior request he has made to access district property.
“He is, in the most literal sense, banned from his own polling place,” the lawsuit reads, adding that it similarly could restrict him from meaningful participation in local government by preventing him from attending community and/or public meetings.
Following the resolution banning Ali from Jersey City school district property, Morris and Velazquez appeared at a subsequent student-organized anti-ICE rally at City Hall – albeit this time on a Saturday.
At the March 1st demonstration, Morris exchanged words for Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea, while Velazquez and Climate Revolution Action Network Executive Director Ben Dziobek had their own verbal confrontation, both as HCV first reported.
The suit sums up Velazquez and Morris’ actions as “not motivated by genuine concern for student safety or district policy,” but “political retaliation against a congressional candidate.”
For relief, Ali is asking for an emergency preliminary injunction issued before June 2 ensuring Ali’s “unconditional and unencumbered” access to his designated polling place before the Democratic Primary election and all subsequent elections.
He is also seeking a declaration that the ban resolution violates the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, the New Jersey Constitution, and the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act, as well as a permanent injunction enjoining the BOE from enforcing this, or similar resolutions, in the future.
In addition, Ali wants an order directing the BOE to remove, retract, and expunge “the false and stigmatizing findings” from all official records, publications, and publicly accessible communications.
Ali is asking for compensatory damages to be determined by the jury at trial, in addition to punitive against each individual defendant in their personal capacities “in an amount sufficient to punish and deter the willful, reckless, and retaliatory conduct” alleged in the lawsuit.
He is also seeking civil penalties against all defendants for each violation, presumed and actual defamation damages against him, attorney’s fees and costs, and other relief as the court deems fit.
He is represented by New York-based Nisar Law Group Principal Mahir Nisar and firm Senior Counsel Kimberly Noe-Lehenbauer, who also filed a temporary restraining order against the BOE to be heard on May 26th.
Fernandez said the district does not comment on pending litigation.
