Some commentators have tried to minimize this problem, claiming, as an editorial
in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times put it that, “…There is scant
evidence that American judges are resolving cases on the basis of shariah.” To the contrary, our study identified 50
significant cases just from the small sample of appellate court published
cases.
Others have asserted with certainty that state court judges will always
reject any foreign law, including Shariah law, when
it conflicts with the Constitution or state public policy. The Center’s
analysis, however, found 15 trial court cases, and 12 appellate court cases,
where Shariah was found to be applicable
in these particular cases.
The facts are the facts: some judges are making decisions deferring to Shariah law even when those decisions conflict with
constitutional protections.
On the releasing the study, the Center for Security Policy’s President,
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., observed:
"These cases are the stories of Muslim American families, mostly
Muslim women and children, who were asking American courts to preserve their
rights to equal protection and due process. These families came to
Key Findings:
• At the trial court level, 22 decisions were found that refused
to apply Shariah; 15 were found to have utilized or
recognized Shariah; 9 were indeterminate; and in 4
cases Shariah was not applicable to the decision at
this level, but was applicable at the appellate level.
• At the appellate Court level: 23 decisions were found that
refused to apply Shariah; 12 were found to have
utilized or recognized Shariah; 8 were indeterminate;
and in 7 cases Shariah was not applicable to the
decision, but had been applicable at the trial court level.
• The 50 cases were classified into seven distinct “Categories”
of dispute: 21 cases dealt with “Shariah
Marriage Law”; 17 cases involved “Child Custody”; 5 dealt with “Shariah Contract Law”; 3 dealt with general “Shariah Doctrine”; 2 were concerned with “Shariah Property Law”; 1 dealt with “Due Process/Equal
Protection” and 1 dealt with the combined “Shariah
Marriage Law/Child Custody.”
• The 50 cases were based in 23 different states: 6 cases were
found in New
Jersey; 5 in California; 4 each in Florida, Massachusetts
and Washington; 3 each in Maryland, Texas and Virginia; 2 each in Louisiana and
Nebraska; and 1 each in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio and South Carolina.
Shariah Law and American State
Courts: An Assessment of State Appellate Court Cases
includes summaries of a sample of twenty cases, as well as the full published
texts for all fifty cases.
Mr. Gaffney added:
“This study represents a timely contribution to the debate developing
around the country: To what extent is the Islamic politico-military-legal
doctrine of Shariah being insinuated into the
“Together with follow-on analyses now in preparation, we hope to equip
those who share the Center’s commitment to the
Constitution of the United States, to the liberties it guarantees and to the
democratic government it mandates to thwart those like the Muslim Brotherhood
who would supplant freedom with Shariah law.
Clearly, we must work to keep
The full text of the study, including text from the court cases and tables
displaying the findings, can be found at www.ShariahInAmericanCourts.com.