Judge slams state's anti-Shariah amendment

WorldNetDaily ^ | November 29, 2010 | Drew Zahn

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Oklahoma's "Save Our State Amendment," which bans state courts from considering Islamic, or Shariah, law when deciding cases, hit a major roadblock today, when a federal judge granted a permanent injunction against the measure.

Chief Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma blocked the state from certifying the amendment – approved by 70 percent of Oklahoma voters through a ballot initiative known as State Question 755 – until an final determination is made on a lawsuit brought against it by the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Miles-LaGrange not only granted the injunction on grounds the lawsuit was likely to succeed, but also delivered harsh criticism of the amendment itself.

"Throughout the course of our country's history, the will of the 'majority' has on occasion conflicted with the constitutional rights of individuals," Miles-LaGrange writes in her decision. "Having carefully reviewed the briefs on this issue … the Court finds that [plaintiff Muneer Awad] has shown that he will suffer an injury in fact, specifically, an invasion of his First Amendment rights."

In her decision, the judge said CAIR demonstrated the Shariah ban could be viewed as an "official condemnation" of Islam, resulting in "a stigma" attached to Muslims within the political community. She also argued that since many Islamic last wills and testaments require consideration of Shariah law, under the approved amendment courts would not be able to probate Islamic wills.

Therefore, she ruled, CAIR "has made a strong showing of a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of his claim asserting a violation of the Free Exercise Clause."

CAIR celebrated the ruling as a victory:

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Thanks for the help. Such inconvenient facts seem to be left out of these editorials. However, give ‘em jurisdiction over criminal matters, plus 50 years of massive procreation (compared to the anemic European rate) and immigration, and you’re screwed, unless there is something else that I am missing.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I didn’t say the family disputes were what we called socially acceptable (and therefore, I want NO shariah courts to exist in this country), I was just inquiring about the jurisdiction of these UK courts.

[tom h]

"Ghana???"

Yup, Ghana -- any unknown p-ssant h-llhole of an African country. Kinda confirms where this lady judge is coming from and just how desperate she was to get a degree from anywhere.

And to think that I used to mock the guys and gals who couldn't get into med school in the USA and instead received their MDs from colleges in the Bahamas.

I expect that the difference between a college in the Caribbean and a college in Africa is the difference between a low-income housing in America and low-income housing in Haiti.