A measure barring the use of foreign laws in Missouri courts is being filed in the state legislature for the upcoming session. Under the bill, any court ruling based on a foreign law would be unenforceable.
House Republican Bill Kidd of Independence says the proposal is not similar to bans on Shariah Law that some states have enacted.
“I’m trying not to take it into that realm of this is an anti-Sharia or anti-Muslim deal,” said Kidd. “I just wanted to make it basic that it’s as simple as, if you’re in the United States, use American laws in American courts. And I’m not trying to take into an issue of ‘This is a Sharia, this is an anti-Muslim thing. It’s not.”
A number of states adopted Sharia law bans after a New Jersey judge in 2009 determined a Muslim man had not sexually assaulted his wife because he was acting consistent with his practices. In that case, a state appeals court reversed the judge’s decision to deny the woman a restraining order.
Voters in neighboring Oklahoma overwhelmingly approved an anti-Sharia law in 2010, which was extended by its legislature to include all foreign laws in 2011. The statute was ultimately overturned by federal courts as unconstitutional. [Missourinet] Read more
