A national group that lobbies for Muslim civil liberties asked the S.C. Legislature on Friday to drop a bill that would ban Sharia law from being used as a defense in state courts, saying it is unconstitutional.
Council on American-Islamic Relations attorney William Burgess said the bill violated the Constitution’s Establishment Clause on religion because it is designed to attack Muslim religious principles.
Sharia law is the legal framework where the public and some private aspects of life are regulated under legal systems based on Islam.
“This legislation is very similar to the Oklahoma anti-Sharia constitutional amendment that was struck down as a violation of the Establishment Clause in a federal court challenge brought by CAIR,” Burgess wrote.
The constitutional limitation of the clause prevents Congress from passing legislation “respecting an establishment of religion.”
The letter was addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney; Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Larry Martin, R-Pickens; and Attorney General Alan Wilson.
“Deciding in favor of CAIR’s lawsuit challenging the amendment, U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange ruled that ‘the references to Sharia Law violated the Establishment Clause,’ ” Burgess wrote. “Should this legislation become law, I expect that it would meet the same fate.”
The House on Thursday approved the proposal 68-42, sponsored by Republican Rep. Chip Limehouse. It will be up for a third reading next week before being sent to the Senate.
Limehouse this week said though there are no known instances of an attorney or defendant trying to use Sharia law in a state court, the law is necessary.
"(With this law) an attorney can’t go into state court and say that the defendant that beat up his daughter for going on a date with a non-Muslim was within his rights according to (Sharia law),” he said.