The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) last night filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit urging the court to uphold a ruling that blocked implementation of a discriminatory and unnecessary Oklahoma state constitutional amendment that prohibits courts from applying – or even considering – what is broadly described as Islamic “Sharia law” and “international law.”

To read the CAIR-ACLU brief, go to: http://www.cair.com/9865207-Appellee-Respondent.pdf

The measure, officially titled the “Save Our State Amendment,” was temporarily enjoined last year by a lower court for blatantly disfavoring an entire faith and denying Oklahoma’s Muslims access to the judicial system on the same terms as every other citizen. The ACLU and CAIR are seeking to have the amendment permanently struck down.

“This amendment is nothing more than a blatant attempt to subvert the Constitution by enshrining anti-Muslim bigotry into state law,” said Daniel Mach, Director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “The idea that followers of an entire faith should be treated like second-class citizens is ugly, discriminatory and profoundly un-American.”

“This brief and the court’s previous ruling make clear that our Constitution does not tolerate using state laws to target religious minorities,” said CAIR Staff Attorney Gadeir Abbas.

CAIR press release, 10 May 2011

See also Muneer Awad, “Stopping anti-Sharia bans”, ACLU Blog of Rights, 10 May 2011