Judge Dismisses DOJ's Novel Use of the FACE Act Against Pro-Palestinian Protesters

U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden in New Jersey ruled October 2, 2026, that a Justice Department lawsuit accusing pro-Palestinian protesters of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act did not adequately plead a violation of the statute, dismissing the case without prejudice. The suit, filed in September 2025, alleged demonstrators physically interfered with and used noisemakers to disrupt a November 2024 event, billed as a religious service and a real-estate fair promoting property sales in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, held at a New Jersey synagogue. Justice Department Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon had called it the first use of the 1994 law, normally applied to abortion-clinic access, to allege interference with religious worship.

The government may file an amended complaint within 30 days. The demonstrators have said their criticism of Israeli settlement activity does not amount to antisemitism, and the underlying dispute over whether the protest crossed into unlawful interference remains unresolved.