Okla. Attempt to Outlaw Shariah Ruled Unconstitutional

Would have forbid court form using international or Shariah law when deciding cases

Oklahoma's attempt to "specifically target and outlaw Shariah," or Islamic law, is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange in Oklahoma City permanently blocked state officials from certifying the 2010 election results for the so-called "Save Our State Amendment," which "forbids courts from considering or using international law [and] Sharia Law" when deciding cases.

Seventy percent of voters approved the constitutional amendment on Nov. 2, 2010. It had been placed on the ballot after state lawmakers passed a similar measure, House Joint Resolution 1056, about six months earlier.

Two days after the election, Muneer Awad, the former head of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK), challenged the amendment's constitutionality in federal court.

Comments

[UnCivilServant]

Now if they'd also rule that attempting to use Sharia law in an american court is likewise a violation of the establishment clause...

Why do I hear crickets?

"No active case", right, no one has tried to rely on it yet.

[Scarecrow Repair]

I'd bet sharia law has already been applied quite a few times in American courts, such as when deciding whether a foreign marriage or divorce or even criminal conviction applied in the US.

[VicRattlehead]

So apparently if viki miles gets raped by some muslim men she has no problem standing trial in a shaira court where she will be convicted of abetting adultry because she is a woman....

[Killazontherun]

Two days after the election, Muneer Awad, the former head of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK), challenged the amendment's constitutionality in federal court.

Hard to imagine how standing was even established here and the article doesn't address the matter at all. Hypothetically, if Mr. Awad had a civil document arrived at through arbitration using the terms of Sharia law as its basis overruled by a party representing the state who does so under the direction of this law, he would have a basis for challenging it. However, nothing indicates any such process took place. Help me out here any lawyers in the house.