Andrea Stroh Thompson, Judge 416th District Court
Posted on 07/08/2021 4:26:38 AM PDT by gattaca
A judge in Texas earlier this year effectively denied a U.S. citizen her constitutionally protected due process rights, choosing instead to order her to appear before an Islamic tribunal where her testimony is considered inferior. And when her lawyers sounded the alarm — the judge doubled down.
What are the details? In March, Collin County District Judge Andrea Thompson ordered a Muslim woman seeking a divorce from her husband to undergo arbitration not through regular channels but through an Islamic court, also known as a Fiqh Panel — a move that the woman’s lawyers argue is an obvious and unconscionable affront to her constitutional rights.
The woman, Mariam Ayad, was attempting to exercise her legal right to a divorce last year when her husband, Ayad Hashim Latif, revealed that on the day of their wedding in 2008, she had signed an Islamic prenuptial agreement to have all matters regarding the marriage and divorce be decided according to Sharia law.
According to court documents, Mariam claims that she was essentially hoodwinked and defrauded into signing the document. At the time, she believed she was signing two copies of a marriage acknowledgment form, which is customary in Muslim cultures.
Notwithstanding, Mariam’s lawyers argue the agreement — which outlines that a three-man panel of Muslim imams are to decide all issues relating to the marriage, including alimony, division of property, child support, and even custody of the couple’s 6-year-old son — ought to be voided in lieu of U.S. law. A copy of the agreement was provided to TheBlaze.
The Texas district judge — in complete disregard of both federal and state law — ruled that the prenuptial agreement is binding, without taking testimony from the wife.
In absence of relief, Mariam will now be required to settle her divorce matters with the Islamic Association of North Texas in front of the Muslim clerics who view her testimony and evidence as carrying half the weight as a man’s.
Mariam has filed a writ of mandamus with the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas to restrict the lower court from enforcing the arbitration order. She is being represented by Michelle O’Neil and Michael Wysocki of the O’Neil Wysocki law firm in Dallas.
What changes did the judge make? Moreover, court documents obtained by TheBlaze show that Thompson vacated the original March order after Mariam’s lawyers challenged it. But instead of changing the order’s effect, the judge seemed to have merely changed some of the wording to make it appear less controversial.
“It is therefore ordered that Respondent’s Motion to Enforce Islamic Prenuptial Agreement and Refer Case to Muslim Court or Fiqh Panel is granted and the Court refers the case to a Muslim Court or Fiqh Panel for [Alternative Dispute Resolution],” the court order dated March 24, which was viewed by TheBlaze, said.
An updated order, dated June 14, removed words such as “Islamic,” “Muslim,” and “Fiqh,” but reiterated the court’s decision.
“The Court has no discretion but to enforce the agreement of the parties in their Prenuptial Agreement signed on December 26, 2008, and refer the parties to arbitration per the terms of their agreement,” the June order states.
“Never in my life have I ever seen a judge do that,” Wysocki said in a phone conversation.
Anything else? The strange case serves as an example of the incompatibility that exists between American law and Islamic Sharia law and the clash that can occur when the two systems are juxtaposed.
What’s especially unacceptable in this case, according to Mariam’s lawyers, is that a U.S. district judge would force an individual to undergo arbitration in accordance with a foreign legal system contrary to the laws of the country of which she is a citizen.
“As a society, we are long past the days when women needed permission from their husbands to get a divorce. Our United States Constitution gives each American woman citizen the right to marry but also the right to divorce,” O’Neil told TheBlaze in a statement. “Judge Thompson’s ruling requires this American woman citizen to submit to a non-American, unconstitutional, male-run, Muslim religious court to ask for permission to divorce her husband where her right to a divorce could very well be denied to her under Sharia law’s family code.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has spoken in regard to cases where state judges consider foreign laws, particularly Sharia law. In doing so, he affirmed that courts should not apply “foreign law” when “doing so violates a party’s right to due process or the clearly established public policy of this State.”
O’Neil and Wysocki noted that at this juncture the ball is with the Fifth Court of Appeals. But they said they plan to file in the Texas Supreme Court in the next phase of the process.
Click this link for the original source of this article. Author: Phil Shiver
blackrobes insert Islamic Law, Maltese Law, Vatican Law,
and their own corruption, greed, and SEDITION.
America will not survive and cannot survive with these
traitors to the US Constitution.
Divorce is a racket invented to make money. In Australia, which I have never lived but I know several people who do live there... in Australia both parties fill out a form submit to the local Clerk and the divorce is finalized through the clerk’s office.
Why do we have to do all this unnecessary BS?
I’d tell the Sharia / Islamic court the Judge is gay and demand justice be handed out from the top of the Sears tower.
In most states in the US uncontested divorce is cheap and easy too. It’s when it is contested that it gets expensive.
That's why creepy Joe, a totally mentally incompetent boob as potus is perfectly representative for the office.
When all is said and done, I figure the ragheads and the cartels will be fighting for the scraps that used to be the USA.
A “registered Republican”, most likely in the vein of Toast Romney and Lightloafers Graham.
Da judges short bio
https://trellis.law/judge/andrea.stroh.thompson
“ Ayad Hashim Latif, revealed that on the day of their wedding in 2008, she had signed an Islamic prenuptial agreement to have all matters regarding the marriage and divorce be decided according to Sharia law.”
Click bait
This story only reinforces the fact that there are a LOT of incredibly stupid blogs out there, including conservative blogs.
Marriage is a contract. That contract can be modified with premarital agreements. Those agreements can - and sometimes do - contain ‘Choice of Law’ provisions. What’s a ‘Choice of Law’ provision? It’s a clause that stipulates what national law will be applied to the contract.
Is there AMPLE case law that supports foreign law be used in the execution of premarital (prenuptial in some circles) agreements? You bet. They’re INCREDIBLY common in NY and are used routinely by....observant Jews living in communal sects. And, those agreements are also routinely enforced by the Court.
The moral of the story is if you don’t want your marital assets divided using a framework established by Hasidic or Islamic law, then don’t sign a prenuptial agreement mandating just that.
I agree. She signed the papers. I hope she gets nothing. Ignorance isn’t a way to win in court. Heck an American court would screw the husband. This way maybe there will be some equity. Maybe she will move back to the place she came from. Bonus!
Clerks are cheaper than lawyers, and lawyers in this country control the processing and submission of a catalog of items necessary for a judge to maje a determination. It is a skewed system which is heavily weighted against the male. The male must first prove that he’s an okay guy before anything happens. No matter how big a dirtbag the wife is, males are always put on the defensive in a courtroom. It’s complete total BS.
islam is wholly incompatible with Western Civilization.
Period.
L
“Why do we have to do all this unnecessary BS?”
So lawyers can make easy money.
My divorce from my first wife cost me plenty. Over an extended period of time.
She got mad at her new boyfriend? She took me to court.
She got mad at the idiot she married? She took me to court.
She once had me in court four times in two months.
Each time she begged poverty and the judge ordered I pay her attorney. My lawyer cost me $500 each court date. Her lawyer charged me $3,000 each court date. That was 40 years ago.
Like I said, in many states you simply fill in an form pay the filing fee and wait the requisite period of time.
A prenup is a contract
A contract must lawful
The sharia court is not legal and lawful
The contract is not enforceable
In this instance, I don’t have too much sympathy.
The modern secular (anti-)Family Law system is not for family and has zero respect for the status quo (eg Christian) in a family.
Easy to say that one was hoodwinked in order to get out of a contract.
Sucks to be mooslime. deal with it.
Exactly right.
She’s a Republican.
I am willing to bet that before she became a Judge, she experienced women breaking prenups to the detriment of her male Family Law clients.
As far as I am concerned, a contract is a contract. So long as there is no real abuse involved, look at it as religious mediation.
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