McCalden v. California Library Association

David McCalden (plaintiff) was a Holocaust revisionist who questioned the Holocaust’s historical truth. McCalden contracted with California Library Association (CLA) (defendant) to rent space and present a program at CLA’s annual conference. CLA canceled the contracts. McCalden sued CLA, the American Jewish Committee (AJC), Simon Wiesenthal Center, Inc. (SWC), and others (collectively, the SWC parties) (defendants) for violating California Civil Code (CCC) § 51.7(a), which protected against violence or intimidation by threat of violence because of listed characteristics, including political affiliation. An amendment after the events provided that the listed characteristics were “illustrative rather than restrictive.” McCalden also sued the SWC parties other than CLA for conspiring to deprive Holocaust revisionists of equal protection in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3). McCalden alleged that AJC told CLA that if McCalden’s contracts were not canceled, the conference would be disrupted, property damaged, and CLA wiped out; and SWC rented an adjacent room for a disruptive demonstration that would create a reasonable probability of property damage and violence. The court dismissed McCalden’s complaint, concluding that being a Holocaust revisionist was not a political affiliation. McCalden appealed, arguing that the characteristics listed in § 51.7 were “illustrative rather than restrictive” and he belonged to a class subject to discrimination because of its unpopular views. The SWC parties maintained that the “illustrative rather than restrictive” language enlarged the statute’s protections, the First Amendment protected their activities, and the complaint insufficiently alleged intimidation by threat of violence against McCalden’s person or property.