Sharia Ban Unconstitutional

Think Progress is reporting that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals just struck down Oklahoma's bizarre ban on Sharia law. This had to be one of the stranger laws approved by voters in recent years, since the danger of Oklahoma being taken over by Islamic law was probably less likely than an outspoken atheist being elected President of the United States.

The court recognized the law as violating the First Amendment's Establishment Clause and noted that the law appears unnecessary. From the ruling:

Appellants do not identify any actual problem the challenged amendment seeks to solve. Indeed, they admitted at the preliminary injunction hearing that they did not know of even a single instance where an Oklahoma court had applied Sharia law or used the legal precepts of other nations or cultures, let alone that such applications or uses had resulted in concrete problems in Oklahoma. See Awad, 754 F. Supp. 2d at 1308; Aplt. App. Vol. 1 at 67-68.

This case is a serious blow to right-wing Islamophobia in the U.S.

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