The nation's leading legal expert on Sharia and its relationship to American law, David Yerushalmi, here tears the cover off the common assertion that anti-Sharia legal initiatives are unnecessary, because Sharia isn't being used in American courts in the first place:
New Study Finds Shariah Law Involved in Court Cases in 23 States CSPWashington, DC, May 17, 2011 - The Center for Security Policy today released an in-depth study-- Shariah Law and American State Courts: An Assessment of State Appellate Court Cases. The study evaluates 50 appellate court cases from 23 states that involve conflicts between Shariah (Islamic law) and American state law. The analysis finds that Shariah has been applied or formally recognized in state court decisions, in conflict with the Constitution and state public policy.
Some commentators have tried to minimize this problem, claiming, as an editorial in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times put it that, “…There is scant evidence that American judges are resolving cases on the basis of shariah.” To the contrary, our study identified 50 significant cases just from the small sample of appellate court published cases.
Others have asserted with certainty that state court judges will always reject any foreign law, including Shariah law, when it conflicts with the Constitution or state public policy. The Center’s analysis, however, found 15 trial court cases, and 12 appellate court cases, where Shariah was found to be applicable in these particular cases.
The facts are the facts: some judges are making decisions deferring to Shariah law even when those decisions conflict with constitutional protections.
On the releasing the study, the Center for Security Policy’s President, Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., observed:
"These cases are the stories of Muslim American families, mostly Muslim women and children, who were asking American courts to preserve their rights to equal protection and due process. These families came to America for freedom from the discriminatory and cruel laws of Shariah. When our courts then apply Shariah law in the lives of these families, and deny them equal protection, they are betraying the principles on which America was founded."
Key Findings:
• At the trial court level, 22 decisions were found that refused to apply Shariah; 15 were found to have utilized or recognized Shariah; 9 were indeterminate; and in 4 cases Shariah was not applicable to the decision at this level, but was applicable at the appellate level.
• At the appellate Court level: 23 decisions were found that refused to apply Shariah; 12 were found to have utilized or recognized Shariah; 8 were indeterminate; and in 7 cases Shariah was not applicable to the decision, but had been applicable at the trial court level.
• The 50 cases were classified into seven distinct “Categories” of dispute: 21 cases dealt with “Shariah Marriage Law”; 17 cases involved “Child Custody”; 5 dealt with “Shariah Contract Law”; 3 dealt with general “Shariah Doctrine”; 2 were concerned with “Shariah Property Law”; 1 dealt with “Due Process/Equal Protection” and 1 dealt with the combined “Shariah Marriage Law/Child Custody.”
• The 50 cases were based in 23 different states: 6 cases were found in New Jersey; 5 in California; 4 each in Florida, Massachusetts and Washington; 3 each in Maryland, Texas and Virginia; 2 each in Louisiana and Nebraska; and 1 each in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio and South Carolina.
Shariah Law and American State Courts: An Assessment of State Appellate Court Cases includes summaries of a sample of twenty cases, as well as the full published texts for all fifty cases.
Mr. Gaffney added:
“This study represents a timely contribution to the debate developing around the country: To what extent is the Islamic politico-military-legal doctrine of Shariah being insinuated into the United States? The analysis complements and powerfully reinforces the warnings contained in the Center’s bestselling 2010 “Team B II” Report, Shariah: The Threat to America. It confirms that Shariah’s adherents are making a concerted effort to bring their anti-constitutional code to this country.
“Together with follow-on analyses now in preparation, we hope to equip those who share the Center’s commitment to the Constitution of the United States, to the liberties it guarantees and to the democratic government it mandates to thwart those like the Muslim Brotherhood who would supplant freedom with Shariah law. Clearly, we must work to keep America Shariah-free, or risk inexorably losing the country we love.”
The full text of the study, including text from the court cases and tables displaying the findings, can be found at www.ShariahInAmericanCourts.com.
The best man for the job is on this. Have faith. I am thrilled that he's on our side - the man is a genius and a miracle-worker of an attorney. God has blessed him with the Power of Righteouness. There is no other like him.
Muslims follow Shari'a Law, the Law of Islam.
The sooner you understand this fact the better!
All States should adopt anti-sharia laws...There should also be laws about activist judges...
Not all Mahoundians are thrilled with Sharia...I converse with two who claim sharia, and hadith were man made, not Islamic, and should be discarded...
Hey, troll.
islam and sharia will perish from the face of the Earth. It's an evil that must be eliminated. It will never be allowed to have a foothold here. We have people to prevent that, dedicated fighters.
Your stealth jihad is doomed to fail here. America and her culture are stronger than pisslam and will vanquish it.
NO MOE LIES
http://nodhimmitude.blogspot.com/2011/05/no-more-lies.html
After eight years, I still find typos embarrassing . . . But I know my beloved fellow JWers will forgive me! :-)
No one is writing term papers...I know sometimes it seems like that because some posters are articulate, and have good typing and writing skills...But being a word adept is not required...I don't care how many typo's, or misspellings I read, as long as the message is clear...
That's the law that says women should be stoned to death because the committed the crime of being raped, right? Well, you would say, that's only the case if four upstanding men from the community did not witness the rape.
But then, what were four upstanding men from the community doing while she was being raped? They should have been helping her, instead of standing by doing nothing, right?
Islam's Sharia so-called laws are illogical and barbaric. Where is the concept of Equity? Sharia is for backward societies that are morally stunted.
And you're a clown!
I didn't see any typos Moe was A LIAR as IS SATAN!
I haven't read the full report yet. I'd like to see if the courts themselves made a ruling on aspects of Sharia law, or if they simply reaffirmed a pre-existing arbitration agreement.
Remember, in arbitration, the parties themselves choose a judge not connected with the government court. The court then enforces the decision made by the arbitration judge, without actually making a judgement on its correctness.
Obviously, no arbitration can take place in the case of a minor, since a minor is unable to make a legally-binding contract or agreement.
Similarly, Sharia arbitration should not be allowed in the case of wives recently brought in from other countries and unfamiliar with US law, who may have signed away their rights without being fully aware of the consequences.
Like any other arbitration, Sharia judges should only be tolerated in the case of parties fully aware of their rights, and willing to commit themselves to specific, extra-legal judge prior to the judgement.
Good reply, and clever.
Thanks, John.
Good reply, and clever.
Thanks, John.
This PPS should be printed and distributed in every court room: A Comparison Table of Sharia Law and English Law
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2011/01/sharia-law-vs-english-law-pdf.html
Shari'a in America. I don't recall signing up for that. It's not even a natural progression of law over the course of time. In fact, it seems like a subversion of the whole point of the law of our land. Uh, it seems like it's illegality masquerading as law. I didn't sign up to be a criminal in my own land for following the laws of the land. Criminalising the people due to a new and foreign set of laws is .... What is that?
David Yerushalmi: New study finds Sharia law involved in court cases in 23 states
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*Profoundly alarming*.
More:
On the releasing the study, the Center for Security Policy’s President, Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., observed:
"These cases are the stories of Muslim American families, mostly Muslim women and children, who were asking American courts to preserve their rights to equal protection and due process. These families came to America for freedom from the discriminatory and cruel laws of Shariah. When our courts then apply Shariah law in the lives of these families, and deny them equal protection, they are betraying the principles on which America was founded."
.........................
This is even more disturbing. I had assumed these would be cases where all parties asked the courts to apply Shari'ah law—but if the civilized United States is now *imposing Shari'ah law against the wishes of some of the principals*, then this is **horrifying**.
Actually, Duh Swami, at the risk of sounding like a Nazi, I DO take umbrage to too many errors. They often lead to confusion, and in this sense, serve little purpose. I agree; most mistakes are "harmless", but remember, the enemy preys upon each and every "mishap", in order to exploit it for nefarious purposes.
Call me linguistically paranoid, but...