Apparently, Sharia law is such a creeping threat to Wyoming that a Republican state legislator wants to make the “Equality State” consider a constitutional amendment barring judges from considering Islamic and international law. In November, Oklahomans passed a similar amendment, which was later blocked by a federal judge over its suspect constitutional grounds.
“To date, no Wyoming court rulings have been based on Islamic law, or Shariah,” the Billings Gazette reports, “But state Rep. Gerald Gay, R-Casper, said his proposed constitutional amendment, House Joint Resolution 8, is meant as a ‘pre-emptive strike’ to ensure judges don’t rely on Shariah in cases involving, for example, arranged marriages, ‘honor killings’ or usury cases.” Gay needs approval of two-thirds of the legislature and the governor’s signature to place the amendment on the 2012 ballot.
According to the 2000 Association of Religion Data Archives, Wyoming’s two Muslim congregations have 263 adherents.
In Washington, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) told conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney that he wants to hold hearings on the creeping threat of Sharia law, and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King (R-NY) is planning McCarthy-esque hearings on the country’s Muslim community.
While Gay pushes to stop the non-existent use of Islamic law in courts, the Wyoming State House today passed a bill to “direct Wyoming to not recognize marriages or civil unions between same-sex couples performed out of state, including foreign countries.”
