Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Good News Alert: Oklahoma Sharia Law Struck Down Again

Constitutional Law 101: Federal Court Rules That Discrimination Against Muslims Violates the First Amendment » Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union

It should be a learning lesson for Islamophobes like Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, who were vocal supporters of this law, and their allies who helped craft this legislation that the Constitution doesn't need their help.

The Constitution is designed to protect the people from exactly this type of nonsensical garbage. The people of Oklahoma and other states are not under any real threat from Islamic Law. The entire basis of this legislation is baseless, as the ACLU notes:
Oklahoma’s proposed “Save Our State Amendment” would have changed the state constitution to bar state courts from considering so-called “Sharia Law” in making decisions. The amendment defined “Sharia Law” broadly as Islamic law based on the Koran and the teachings of Mohammed. If implemented, the amendment would have rendered Oklahoma’s Muslims second-class citizens before the state courts. For example, it could have prevented courts from probating a will that incorporated or even mentioned the religious beliefs of the deceased. It also could have inhibited Muslims from forming enforceable contracts in accordance with their religious beliefs, even while those of other faiths could. And it would have effectively denied Muslims the ability to bring suit in state court to remedy violations of their religious freedom rights. 
In its ruling, the appeals court flatly rejected the State’s claim that the law was necessary to protect against the courts’ improper application of Sharia law. The court affirmed that the so-called “Sharia threat” identified by the State is a myth. The court wrote: “Appellants do not identify any actual problem the challenged amendment seeks to solve. Indeed, they admitted, that they did not know of even a single instance where an Oklahoma court had applied Sharia law or used the legal precepts of other nations or cultures, let alone that such applications or uses had resulted in concrete problems in Oklahoma.”

0 comments:

Post a Comment