Bar Association Executive Council Opposes State Bans on Sharia Law

A Semi-News/Semi-Satire from AzConservative ^ | 26 February 2011 | John Semmens

[John Semmens]

Legislation aimed at barring Islamic sharia law from being used to decide cases in state courts has been introduced in 14 states, thus far this year. The American Bar Association’s Executive Council has created a “task force” to oppose this legislation by producing “talking points that can be used to dissuade legislators from taking such action.”

“There are two key issues here,” said Council spokesman Arthur Swindel. “First, there is the cultural prerogative of persons to choose which laws they wish to be subject to. Islam has a long and storied history and a legal structure that has been in place for centuries—pre-dating, I’d like to point out, the constitutions and laws of every state now in existence. Therefore, whether a state’s laws or sharia laws should take precedence is, we believe, a matter for adjudication.”

“Second, it is the primary responsibility of the Bar Association to protect the interests of its members,” Swindel continued. “The more competing legal standards in play, the more ambiguity there is in what the law is, the more opportunities there will be for the employment of our members. Fees will be earned on both sides of every case. Even attorneys who oppose using sharia law will benefit from the necessity to contest its application in any given case. So, from an economic standpoint this means a bigger pie for every member of our profession.”

This venture into preemptive lobbying against legislative action supplements the profession’s more traditional approach of suing to overturn already enacted laws. Last November, an Oklahoma court struck down a ban on sharia law being used in its state courts that was put into place by voters.

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http://azconserv1.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/president-and-treasury-secretary-downplay-mid-east-strife-hail-invention/

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Should we establish a Bet Din (religious court) in America as there is in Israel?

It's up to the Southern Poverty Law Center and Morris Dees.

He is the final arbiter of hate.

He has a lot of experience hating.

[Excellence]

Thank God it’s you, John.