Message #323

[Mark]

Judge blocks anti-Shariah amendment

A federal judge has placed a temporary restraining order on Oklahoma's newly approved constitutional amendment prohibiting state courts from considering international or Islamic law when deciding cases.

U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange ruled this morning that the amendment, which was approved by 70 percent of Oklahoma voters through a ballot initiative known as State Question 755, should be put on hold until a Nov. 22 hearing over a possible preliminary injunction.

As WND reported, the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state ballot measure, contending it violates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause protecting freedom of religion.

"Today's ruling is a reminder of the strength of our nation's legal system and the protections it grants to religious minorities," responded CAIR-OK Executive Director Muneer Awad. "We are humbled by this opportunity to show our fellow Oklahomans that Muslims are their neighbors and that we are committed to upholding the U.S. Constitution and promoting the benefits of a pluralistic society."

This past week, Oklahoma became the first state to put before voters the proposition that Islamic courts, Islamic law – known as Shariah – and Shariah-based court decisions should be banned.

Awad told The Oklahoman newspaper that "there's no threat" of Shariah law being enforced in the U.S., calling it "a legal impossibility."

One of the chief sponsors of the measure, state Rep. Rex Duncan, however, has argued that while the threat of Shariah in Oklahoma is not "imminent," there's "a storm on the horizon."

The United Kingdom, for example, now has 85 separate Shariah courts for Muslims that operate in parallel with the Crown courts of the nation, and one judge in New Jersey already has cited Shariah in a defense of a man accused of assaulting his wife, though the judge's decision was overturned in appeal.


rest: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=225809