There is a growing concern in many communities throughout the U.S. that immigrants will attempt to enact legislation to have their foreign countries’ customs and laws be incorporated into U.S. laws, rather than assimilate into U.S. laws and culture. As the adage says “when in Rome do as Romans do.”
With a wide margin of 72% Alabama passed a controversial “Alabama Foreign Laws in Court, Amendment Amendment 1” to their state constitution, which stated:
Amendment 1 would prohibit courts and other legal authorities from applying foreign law if doing so would violate rights guaranteed to citizens of Alabama. This Amendment does not apply to the laws of other states but applies only to “any law, rule, or legal code or system used outside of the United States or by any other people, group or culture different from the people of the United States or the State of Alabama.”
Alabama attempted to pass similar legislation, but failed. During the 2011 state legislative session, Sen. Gerald Allen proposed the Alabama “Sharia Law Amendment,” which did not make the November 2012 ballot. This measure sought to prohibit state courts from implementing Islamic Sharia law when making judicial decisions. In Amendment 1, Sen. Allen did not use any language that specifically referred to Sharia law.
Muslims appear to be outraged by this law, which bans Sharia law, the Muslim code of law and morality.
(h/t ballotpedia.org)
