A federal appeals court has blocked implementation of an Oklahoma law that would prevent state judges from considering sharia law in their decisions.
The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling released Tuesday, affirmed an order by a district court judge in 2010 that prevented the voter-approved state constitutional amendment from taking effect. The ruling also allows a Muslim community leader in Oklahoma City to continue his legal challenge of the law’s constitutionality.
The measure, known as State Question 755, was approved with 70% of the vote in 2010. The amendment would bar courts from considering the legal precepts of other nations or cultures. “Specifically, the courts shall not consider international law or sharia law,” the law reads.
The appellate court opinion pointed out that proponents of the law admitted to not knowing of a single instance in which an Oklahoma court applied sharia law or the legal precepts of other countries.
Now if you know anything about Oklahoma, you know that the chances of a judge there basing a decision on sharia law are somewhat less than the chances of a judge in Tel Aviv doing so. But, perhaps, better safe than sorry?
In another effort to legislate against a currently non-existent threat, a Republican state senator from Oklahoma City has introduced a bill that would ban the use of aborted human fetuses in food.
