New Anti-Sharia Bill
Unfazed by the failure of their bill to keep out Sharia and other foreign laws to pass through the House and Senate in the 2011 session, two Republican Florida legislators, state Senator Alan Hays and Representative Larry Metz, have sponsored a similar bill this year. Like last year’s version (HB1273), this year’s (HB1209) is aimed at preventing Sharia or other foreign laws from being applied to cases of family law in Florida, though it is more limited in scope. Although the bill is widely seen as being anti-Sharia in particular, Larry Metz maintains that the bill was not specifically targeted towards one specific law. The bill went through a House Civil Justice Subcommittee with little debate. Its companion Bill in the Florida Senate (SB 1360) also sailed through the Florida Senate Judiciary committee. However, the bill has evoked responses elsewhere. Meanwhile HB1209 is now in the House Judiciary Committee and SB1360 in the Senate Budget Committee.
Anti-Defamation League’s Response
The Anti-Defamation League responded with a statement calling the bill “a proverbial solution in search of a problem”. The statement pointed out that “Florida courts are already prohibited from applying or considering religious law in any way that would constitute government entanglement with religion due to the separation of church and state embodied in the Florida and federal constitutions”, so HB 1209 is not only unnecessary but also harmful to the religious freedom of the people of Florida.
In a letter to its committee members, the League also warned that the bill is was authored by anti-Islam extremist David Yerushalmi, founder and president of the Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE), which has published anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, and anti-black material.
Response Of CAIR Official
A more blunt response came from Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). His reaction to an email from The Florida Family Association urging its members to encourage representatives on the Civil Justice subcommittee to support HB 1209 was to send an email to the association that said, “You guys are a joke”.
Solution In Search Of A Problem
The notion that the slew of bills in various states to prevent US courts from considering sharia or other law is a solution in search of a problem is one also held by the American Civil Liberties Union. In an opinion piece in the Huffington Post in May last year, David Mach, director of the union’s program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, and Jamil Dakwar, director of the union’s program on Human Rights, point out that these bills “distort the protections already provided by the Constitution in ways that harm the rights of individuals, faith communities and businesses”. They explain that the existing legal system is already “well equipped to determine when courts may properly reference religious law” and also when doing so would be crossing the line.
Think About It
Why has there been a spate of bills being introduced to keep out sharia (and other law) in the USA. Is the fear of “creeping sharia” well founded? What are these measures doing to race relations? Are they only fuelling the desire of extremists to impose sharia law? Are existing laws sufficient to stem moves to impose sharia law?
Previous posts
Appeals Court Declares Oklahoma’s Attempt To Ban Sharia Law Unconstitutional
Florida Appeals Court Approves Use Of Sharia Law To Resolve Particular Issue
America Sees Flurry Of Bills To Outlaw Sharia
Sharia Law Is Hot Topic In USA
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