The same peer pressure exists among ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups (Hassidim). If a Hassid summons another Hassid to appear before a din torah (a rabbinic tribunal) and the latter refuses, all the other Hassidim are supposed to shun him. Nonetheless, U.S. courts routinely enforce the decrees of these Rabbinic tribunals.
"If I am a woman of faith, and the community of people who see themselves as leaders say that if I do not follow the sharia court here, the Islamic Institute, then I will be tantamount to blasphemy and apostasy," Hogben said in a debate shown on Canadian television. "And you know that in some countries, apostasy means death sentence."
"The same peer pressure exists among ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups . . . all the other Hassidim are supposed to shun him."
Shunning is one thing. How many Hassidim have been ordered killed by the rabbinic tribunal? Despite all the civilized trappings, many of the Sharia crowd are still in the 12th century, with all that that implies. Comparing the Jewish tribunal to the Sharia fanatics is pretty lame.
What I think actually happens is that when the beth din hands down a verdict and the guilty party does not want to abide by the decision, the same dispute is then brought before a civil court as a new case.
The U.S. courts have no business acting as enforcers for the beis din. I know that in New York state there was or maybe is a law giving the state power to enforce the conditions of a divorce granted by a beth din in matters of custody, division of property, and so forth.
IIRC, it was liberals and feminists who were trying to get this law passed, claiming that women were being unfairly treated by the religious divorce courts while religious Jews were against it, claiming it was giving the state control over the religious courts.