Anti-Shariah movement loses steam in state legislatures

At this point in 2011, 22 state legislatures had either passed or were considering bills to prohibit judges from considering either Islamic law, known as Shariah, or foreign law in their decisions.

What a difference a year can make.

The wave of anti-Shariah legislation has broken in recent weeks, as bills in several states have either died or been withdrawn, raising questions about whether the anti-Shariah movement has lost its momentum.

New Jersey Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi and Minnesota state Sen. David Thompson, both Republicans, withdrew anti-foreign law bills after Muslim and interfaith leaders criticized the measures as anti-Muslim.

“It was never meant to be an anti-Shariah law bill, it was meant to be an anti-foreign law bill,” Schepisi said in an interview, speaking about the bill she withdrew March 12. “But after sitting down with members of the Muslim community, and taking into consideration everything they’d been through in the last few weeks, I didn’t want to create any more tension.”

New Jersey Muslims have rallied in recent weeks against a surveillance program of Muslim businesses and community centers in Newark and elsewhere conducted by the New York Police Department.

Thompson, too, had a change of heart.

“It was never my intent to introduce legislation that was being targeted to any one group,” said a statement from Thompson, who submitted his proposal on March 2, but withdrew it three days later after interfaith leaders criticized him at a press conference.

According to Gavel to Gavel, an online newsletter that tracks state laws affecting courts, similar bills have also recently died or are likely to die in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, and New Mexico, although at least a few of them could be revived next year.

Last year, anti-foreign law bills died in the Arkansas, Maine, Texas, and Wyoming legislatures, and were not revived this year, according to Gavel to Gavel.

“There really wasn’t much time or interest in discussing this,” said John Schorg, a spokesman for Indiana’s House Democrats.

While the anti-Shariah movement may be losing momentum, it certainly hasn’t gone away. On March 12, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed an anti-foreign law bill, joining Arizona, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Tennessee in passing such laws.

And in Florida, Democratic state Sen. Nan Rich, the minority leader, acknowledged that practicality, not principles, is what undid the anti-foreign law bill there.

“I wish I could say it died because of an anti anti-Shariah law effort, but unfortunately I think it more came down to the crunch of bills in the last week of (the legislative) session,” Rich said.

While Democrats and some moderate Republicans opposed the bill, most Republicans — including Senate President Mike Haridopolos, who did not reply to requests for comment — favored the bill.

“I doubt we could have stopped the bill if it came to a vote,” said Rich.

At the moment, anti-foreign law bills are alive in 13 states, including Oklahoma, where an anti-Shariah constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2010 has been ruled unconstitutional by two federal courts, prompting Sooner State lawmakers to craft a revised version.