Court order blocks Okla. amendment on Islamic law

[cynatnite]

Source: AP

OKLAHOMA CITY – A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking a state constitutional amendment that prohibits state courts from considering international or Islamic law when deciding cases.

U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange ruled Monday morning in Oklahoma City following a brief hearing. It prevents the state election board from certifying the results of Tuesday's general election in which the amendment was approved by 70 percent of the voters.

The order will remain in effect until a Nov. 22 hearing on a requested preliminary injunction.

It was issued in a lawsuit filed by the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma. Muneer Awad said during the hearing that the law stigmatizes his religion.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101108/ap_on_re_us/us_islamic_law_lawsuit

[Gman]

1. They call it Al-Queda in Oklahoma

or something they've been scared to death of...

[tulsakatz]

2. doesn't the constitution say something about not making laws based on religion?

and since sharia law is based on islamic religion, wouldn't it's ban be unconstitutional?

[ck4829]

9. This law was passed under the guise that liberals and Muslims are invading Oklahoma

Kind of like the recent Prop 8 ruling, Prop 8 was found to have singled out gays and lesbians and there was no value in the State to discriminate against them.

Using Kosher laws was deemed unconstitutional as well. So, if Sharia law here is banned, it needs to be because it is unconstitutional, not because of some imaginary invasion of Muslims and people who want to use "international law".

[AlbertCat]

12. liberals and Muslims are invading Oklahoma

Because!!!

Everyone wants to live on OKLAHOMA!


"here the wind comes sweeping down the plain!..."





(the Muslims can have it, for all I care)

[a la izquierda]

17. Trust me, they hate us here...

Liberals, that is. My husband was wary about putting a Boycott Veal sticker on the car, in combination with our bike rack. That's how much they hate liberals, boycotting a meat product and having a bike rack make us eligible to be blacklisted according to Oklahoma knuckledraggers.
Luckily, I live in a relatively sane part of the state, where cops tend to not take any sort of harassment lightly. Thank god, oops, Allah...ah crap. Now they'll get me.

[No Elephants]

21. No. It says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the

Legislatures can--and have--made laws "based on religion."

What's probaby unconstitutional here is singling out one religion, as opposed to saying "State court decisions shall not be based on the law of any religion." IOW, a ban on using religious law is fine--and required; discriminataing against one religion is not fine.

[jberryhill]

30. Even generally, it is an impairment of contract

I'm getting tired of delisting this example, but you must have missed it...

A restaurant contracts with a supplier for kosher meat. The restaurant owner subsequently refuses a shipment, claiming the meat is not kosher. Standard industry practice in the kosher meat business is to rely on certification of the XYZ Rabbinical Council. In enforcing the contract, the court will rely on the Rabbinical Council's certification or non certification, to determine whether there was breach of contract.

Likewise, the parties could have contracted to appoint the Rabbinical Council as arbitrator of disputes. A court will enforce the arbitration decision of the Rabbinical Council.

Both of those situations are perfectly lawful, and are at root a court enforcement of a religious decision upon which two parties contracted to rely.

Sharia becomes significant in financial contracts, due to things like Sharia mortgages and other investment vehicles which are not interest based. While it may be a fun topic, "banning Sharia" may have significant impact on reliance upon existing financial contracts.

[qnr]

3. I find it hilarious that technically, the law outlaws the Ten Commandments. n/t

[Bragi]

10. The 10 commandments have never been part of US law /nt

[qnr]

20. That's the point, it doesn't allow international 'laws' to be used in OK courts.

Not saying that the ten commandments are used, but the law makes them illegal.

[No Elephants]

25. No, it doesn't.

[qnr]

32. Well, I'll take the word of a number of legal experts who

have posted detaailed thoughts on the matter - they say it does.

[timo]

4. any wonder?

Oklahoma....no surprise it passed, look at their 1804, how come the white house doesnt shoot this in the ass like Arizona??? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HB1804

[Ian David]

5. Oh, come on. Let's allow Oklahoma to live with the consequences of this wildly popular law. n/t

[activa8tr]

6. Only people in OK could do this kind of thing...wasting time in

U.S. courts by passing foolish and meaningless laws.

Wonder if a court will strike down the abortion restrictions, too!

[Bragi]

8. CAIR seems to think the law isn't "meaningless"

Otherwise, why would they be making such an effort to have it annulled?

[AlbertCat]

13. Only people in OK could do this kind of thing..

wasting time in U.S. courts by passing foolish and meaningless laws.


************

You're joking, right? ONLY in OK?

[jberryhill]

7. Aw shucks... I was going to move to OK and do criminal defense

Your honor, my client is accused of murder. But Sharia forbids murder, and therefore my client can't be found guilty of anything that is forbidden by Sharia.

[No Elephants]

26. The only way to get anyone convicted of murder in Oklahoma is by referring to Sharia law?

[jberryhill]

29. No, but you miss the point

Since Sharia law forbids murder, then the OK state murder statute can't be enforced.

Can you explain to me what court in OK was applying Sharia?

Now, obviously, since the voters acted to ban it, their action must have some meaning. So, clearly, their intent was to strike any law which is substantially identical to any provision of Sharia. Otherwise, you would be failing to give effect to the intent of the proposition.

[Bragi]

31. Your argument seems, well, not on point

The issue isn't that any law that resembles anything that's part of Sharia law is now defunct.

For example, as you note, Sharia (and just about every other legal system) bans murder, however all legal systems also make killing other people legal in certain specified circumstances

The point of the ballot initiative, as I understand it, is simply to prevent Sharia law from being invoked or used to exonerate anyone who break U.S laws, despite whatever Sharia law might say.

(I believe the only example of Sharia law being cited in the US was a now-reversed ruling earlier this year by a judge in New Jersey exonerating a Muslim man for rape because he claimed that, under Sharia law, sexual assault by a husband is not rape of the wife, so he wasn't guilty.)

[Manifestor_of_Light]

11. The new law bans any "INTERNATIONAL LAW".

So that invalidates all our U.S. laws because they come from England, France and Spain.

:banghead:

Overbroad laws written by idiots who never went to law school and don't understand a damn thing about the Constitution or history.

[AlbertCat]

15. The new law bans any "INTERNATIONAL LAW".

Great!

So I can build nukes in OK now!

[No Elephants]

27. Please see Reply 23.

[Democat]

22. Do they teach history in OK schools or just creationism and "patriotism"?

Sorry to OK DUers.

[No Elephants]

24. Please see Reply 23. Also, once the U.S. or a state adopts a law, it

becomes the law of the U.S. or of that state (whether or not it also remains law in its native land).

[Scurrilous]

14. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Frisbee]

16. How long until the judge...

starts receiving death threats?

[JJ]

18. about 5 seconds after the ruling.

that would be my guess

[David__77]

19. This was a "message" to Muslims: don't come here.

They could have just as easily had a shorter amendment that merely said that state and federal constitutions are the sole reference points for Oklahoma courts' legal reasoning, but they had to take several steps further and specify sharia. Not even theocracy in general, of course, but rather specifically Islamic jurisprudence. I wish I could see exit polling data for this measure; I am just a bit hopeful that among younger voters the split was a little closer - perhaps 60/40, while I'm sure over 80% of seniors supported it.

[No Elephants]

28. "Sure?"

[No Elephants]

23. I wonder if the Oklahoma statute actually says "international" law.

What Oklahoma probably means is "the law of any jurisdiction other than the U.S.A. and any state of the U.S.A.," which is different from international law.

[LibertyLover]

33. Here is the text of the ballot amendment

"This measure amends the State Constitution. It changes a section that deals with the courts of this state. It would amend Article 7, Section 1. It makes courts rely on federal and state law when deciding cases. It forbids courts from considering or using international law. It forbids courts from considering or using Sharia Law.

International law is also known as the law of nations. It deals with the conduct of international organizations and independent nations, such as countries, states and tribes. It deals with their relationship with each other. It also deals with some of their relationships with persons.

The law of nations is formed by the general assent of civilized nations. Sources of international law also include international agreements, as well as treaties.

Sharia Law is Islamic law. It is based on two principal sources, the Koran and the teaching of Mohammed.

Shall the proposal be approved?

Yep, they said "international law" and defined it. They do not appear to mean "the law of any jurisdiction other than the U.S.A. and any state of the U.S.A.".

[jberryhill]

34. that's the ballot text, the operative amendment text is here:

http://www.ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Oklahoma_International_Law_Amendment_%282010%29,_Constitutional_changes

Proposed constitutional changes if the measure is enacted read:<1>

A. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in the Senate, sitting as a Court of Impeachment, a Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Court on the Judiciary, the Workers’ Compensation Court, the Court of Bank Review, the Court of Tax Review, and such intermediate appellate courts as may be provided by statute, District Courts, and such Boards, Agencies and Commissions created by the Constitution or established by statute as exercise adjudicative authority or render decisions in individual proceedings.

Provided that the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Workers’ Compensation Court, the Court of Bank Review and the Court of Tax Review and such Boards, Agencies and Commissions as have been established by statute shall continue in effect, subject to the power of the Legislature to change or abolish said Courts, Boards, Agencies, or Commissions. Municipal Courts in cities or incorporated towns shall continue in effect and shall be subject to creation, abolition or alteration by the Legislature by general laws, but shall be limited in jurisdiction to criminal and traffic proceedings arising out of infractions of the provisions of ordinances of cities and towns or of duly adopted regulations authorized by such ordinances.

B. Subsection C of this section shall be known as the “Save Our State Amendment”.

C. The Courts provided for in subsection A of this section, when exercising their judicial authority, shall uphold and adhere to the law as provided in the United States Constitution, the Oklahoma Constitution, the United States Code, federal regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, established common law, the Oklahoma Statutes and rules promulgated pursuant thereto, and if necessary the law of another state of the United States provided the law of the other state does not include Sharia Law, in making judicial decisions. The courts shall not look to the legal precepts of other nations or cultures. Specifically, the courts shall not consider international or Sharia Law. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to all cases before the respective courts including, but not limited to, cases of first impression.
Current section

The section that the measure would amend currently reads:

The judicial power of this State shall be vested in Senate, sitting as a Court of Impeachment, a Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Court on the Judiciary, the State Industrial Court, the Court of Bank Review, the Court of Tax Review, and such intermediate appellate courts as may be provided by statute, District Courts, and such Boards, Agencies and Commissions created by the Constitution or established by statute as exercise adjudicative authority or render decisions in individual proceedings. Provided that the Court of Criminal Appeals, the State Industrial Court, the Court of Bank Review and the Court of Tax Review and such Boards, Agencies and Commissions as have been established by statute shall continue in effect, subject to the power of the Legislature to change or abolish said Courts, Boards, Agencies, or Commissions. Municipal Courts in cities or incorporated towns shall continue in effect and shall be subject to creation, abolition or alteration by the Legislature by general laws, but shall be limited in jurisdiction to criminal and traffic proceedings arising out of infractions of the provisions of ordinances of cities and towns or of duly adopted regulations authorized by such ordinances.


--------

One weird aspect is what it means to "look to" some other set of law. Such a reference may arise in the course of contract disputes, establishing state of mind in a criminal proceeding, and a variety of other contexts.

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Posteritatis]

36. The will of the people is often wrong.

If the will of the people was to deny Muslims the franchise, or impose restrictions on political speech, or reinstate literacy tests or require internal passports or whatever, then they run up against this thing called the federal constitution which is designed to trump attempts at that sort of thing.

The states don't get carte blanche to pass this sort of thing just because they convinced fifty percent plus one of their voters to be dumb enough to want it. Nor should they.