Over a month after a Hampshire Superior Court judge dismissed the case, plaintiffs seeking to void a Northampton City Council action that urged municipal divestment from Israel-connected assets are going back to court. Opponents of the Council’s September 2025 resolution hope a recent Supreme Judicial Court ruling and a new complaint will be enough to revive the suit.
Less than two weeks after oral arguments on August 26, Hampshire Superior Court Judge Charles Groce dismissed a suit filed over the Northampton City Council’s resolution that called for the city to divest from Israel-connected assets. It was never clear what the originators of the
NORTHAMPTON—Last Wednesday, a judge in Northampton heard dueling motions in a rather strange case. On the surface, it may be another political, legal and cultural battle waged over Israel. The roots of the case plainly reach there. Yet, the case has an odd feature. The plaintiffs, 10 residents of Paradise City, are seeking to overturn a nonbinding resolution.
NORTHAMPTON—No New England community is complete without an old church-cum-meetinghouse. However, a few years ago, the one at the center of Paradise City, today First Churches, was in trouble. Circa 2007, plaster was caving into the sanctuary.
First Churches turned to Gina-Louise Sciarra.
UPDATED 11:35PM: To include comment from Mayor Narkewicz about the rest of his term. One month after it suddenly became wide open, the Northampton Mayoral race appears to be rumbling to life. City Council President Gina-Louise Sciarra is expected to formally enter the race to