Texas lawmakers consider bills to ban foreign law in state courts

Texas lawmakers are next in line of states, to try and block the use of Shariah law from being accepted as persuasive in any court in the Lone Star State. This also includes any cultural considerations and implications of any foreign law or code, including the Islamic Shariah law.

Representative Leo Berman, the sponsor of one of the measures, stated that the goal of his proposed bill “is to require Texas courts to uphold and apply only the laws ordained by the constitutions of Texas and the United States.

“We all know what Shariah law does to women — women must wear burqas, women are subject to humiliation and … controlled marriages under Shariah law,” he continued, in defense of his bill. “We want to prevent it from ever happening in Texas.”

New American

Berman’s bill to exclude Shariah law from Texas courts as well as a similar proposal sponsored by Rep. Randy Weber were brought before the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence last week. Both measures are awaiting committee approval. Other states forbidding Shariah based laws are, Alaska, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Tennessee.

In Arabic, Shariah means “path”, and is the sacred law of Islam, and it has two sources: the Koran and the writings of Mohammed. Shariah is the code that is responsible for the stoning of adulteresses; the caning of rape victims; and the restrictions on dress, rights of inheritance, and marital status of women.

But there are those opposed to the proposed bills in Texas and elsewhere who accuse supporters of religious bigotry.

“It’s not just happening in Dearborn,” Pat Carlson, a Fort Worth woman and president of the conservative Texas Eagle Forum, told the committee. “This is something happening in other states.”

New American

Upon hearing Ms. Carlson’s testimony, one committee member questioned the necessity for the measure.



“Even if what you are saying is true, there are extremists on every end of the political spectrum,” commented Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio), a committee member. “So what makes you think they’re going to take over the country?”

New American

Dorrie O’Brien, a Grand Prairie woman who worked to add a plank to the Republican Party of Texas’ platform in 2010 said that Shariah law is a complete way of life, and We cannot have a substitute law running alongside our Constitution. Then there is Texas state representative Randy Weber, who said Shariah isn’t the only foreign law that he and others are concerned about.