Testimony heard on bill banning use of foreign law in state courts

Montana residents, many from the Flathead Valley, packed into the Montana State Capitol’s Old Supreme Court Chambers on Tuesday morning to offer support for state legislation that would prohibit the use of foreign law in Montana’s courts.

Senate Bill 97 would explicitly forbid the state’s court system from enforcing any legal decision or law that conflicts with the protections afforded under the state and federal constitution. The legislation provides an exception to allow business contracts created in a foreign legal jurisdiction.

While the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, emphasized that the measure is not intended to target any specific group, many of the dozens of speakers told the Senate Judiciary Committee they were afraid that Muslim refugees and immigrants would attempt to introduce Sharia Law, the Islamic legal code, in the absence of Regier’s bill.

“I have great concerns about the motivation behind resettlement of dangerous immigrants disguised as humanitarian refugees, which is of course the lead-in purpose for this kind of bill,” former state Sen. Ed Butcher, a Winifred Republican, told the committee.

After a committee member objected to Butcher linking Islam to terrorism, vice-chair Sen. Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, sided with Butcher, noting, “there is a nexus here between Sharia law, Islamic teachings and the bill.”

Speaking as a Belgian-born immigrant now living in Bigfork, Caroline Solomon advocated for the measure as one that would preserve the United States’ “unique values of liberties, which do not exist in foreign legal systems.”

Solomon is the chair of the Flathead County chapter of Act for America, a group that frequently hosts speakers opposed to Islam.

“We are a nation of laws. Unfortunately, increasingly foreign laws and legal doctrines are finding their way into U.S. courts,” she said. “The embrace of foreign legal systems, some of which are inherently hostile to our constitutional liberties, is a violation of the principles on which our nation was founded.”

OTHER SPEAKERS referred to court cases elsewhere in the country where foreign laws and culture had lent weight to court decisions — a claim disputed by the bill’s opponents.

Following more than an hour of testimony in support of the bill, representatives from the Montana Association of Christians, the Montana Human Rights Network and the ACLU of Montana spoke in opposition, arguing that it would be unnecessary and discriminatory toward Muslims.

“To focus on one group and assign anyone who’s a member of that group the designation of hate, of ‘wrong,’ to me is a violation of the Gospel values,” said David Anderson, the Christian association’s president.

S.K. Rossi, the state ACLU director, noted that similar laws had been struck down in the past, including one in Oklahoma that explicitly banned Sharia law.

“The bill in front of you is the same thing, it just doesn’t say ‘Sharia law’ in it,” Rossi said. “There actually hasn’t been an application of foreign law in any of our courts, and I would say as a last point that we need to start trusting our judiciary to start applying the correct laws in the correct circumstances. This is unnecessary and based on unfounded fear.”

Sen. Jedediah Hinkle, R-Belgrade, challenged the human-rights groups, referring to testimony that Islam condones human rights abuses to suggest the bill would effectively advance their organizations’ missions.

“Why would you be opposed to that? Would you be willing to change your mind and become a proponent if this bill is really intended to take on Sharia law?” Hinkle asked Rossi.

“If we have an interest in protecting human rights, we should add LGBT people to the Montana Human Rights Act,” Rossi responded, arguing that the bill’s language has historically been used to curtail human rights in other states.

In his closing arguments for the bill, Regier quoted the portion of his bill that reaffirms the supremacy of state and federal laws.

“I don’t know how any American can disagree with that,” Regier said. “And I do find it amazing that there would be those that think that following the U.S. and Montana Constitution would be considered a phobia.”

The foreign-law bill is getting its second chance in as many legislative sessions. Regier’s legislation mirrors the 2015 session’s Senate Bill 199, sponsored by then-Sen. Janna Taylor, R-Dayton.

In an interview, Regier said he felt that it was a good bill that had been introduced too late in the previous session to gain enough traction before the deadline for bills to transmit to the other chamber. It failed to advance from the same committee in 2015, after receiving a 6-6 vote.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.