Overview

• On July 31, Alan Dershowitz filed suit against Good Pierogi after the vendor at West Tisbury Farmers Market allegedly told him he would not sell pierogi due to disapproval of his politics.
• West Tisbury police told Dershowitz that private vendors retain a right of refusal under Massachusetts law and suggested he pursue any grievance through civil court.
• Dershowitz has petitioned the farmers market to adopt a non-discrimination policy requiring vendors to serve customers regardless of political views.
• Legal commentators warn that the Supreme Court’s Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling could protect vendors from lawsuits over refusals not involving legally protected classes, casting doubt on the lawsuit’s viability.
• Dershowitz frames the incident as part of a broader pattern of social exclusion he says he has faced on the predominantly liberal island community.