Bill Aimed at Protecting S.C. From Foreign Law Introduced in Legislature
by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
01/26/2011
COLUMBIA, S.C. – A legislative initiative aimed at preventing “a court or other enforcement authority” from enforcing foreign law in the Palmetto State was introduced today in both the S.C. House and Senate by Rep. Wendy Nanney (who drafted the bill) and Sen. Mike Fair respectively, who say the bill will preempt violations of a person’s constitutional rights resulting from the application of foreign law. 

Legislators and other proponents of the bill say America has unique values of liberty which do not exist in foreign legal systems. Yet foreign laws are increasingly finding their way into U.S. court cases, particularly in the area of family law, involving divorce and child custody where, for instance, Islamic Shariah Law has been invoked in several U.S. states.

According to Christopher Holton with the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Security Policy (CSP), “There are numerous examples in dozens of states in which parties to such a dispute attempted to invoke Shariah.”

David Yersushalmi, general counsel to the CSP, argues it’s not just “patently bad foreign laws [creeping into our court systems],” it’s that once in the system, the state’s police power would be used to “enforce laws that could never pass federal or state constitutional muster.”

Fair agrees, which is why he introduced the bill in the Senate.

“S.C., like other states, recognizes the need to assert the fact that our state and U.S. constitutions are the basis for civil law in our country,” says Fair. “Some locales have been threatened by the encroachment of foreign law into local, state and or federal law despite obvious violations of our constitutions. A growing concern is the immigration of people who are accustomed to their religion and their civil laws being inextricably connected. For those newcomers to our state, this bill will be helpful to them as they are assimilated into our culture maintaining complete freedom to worship as they please.”

Nanney, who introduced the bill in the House with 20 sponsors and co-sponsors, says that “in speaking with several family court judges, I’ve learned that foreign law has been invoked here in S.C.” She adds, that foreign law includes not just foreign religious law, but foreign secular law from various countries.

Problem is few South Carolinians – or Americans for that matter – are aware of this, until now. 

Similar bills were successfully supported last year in Louisiana and Tennessee.

Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. at http://uswriter.com

Mr. Smith is a contributor to Human Events. A former U.S. Marine rifle-squad leader and counterterrorism instructor, he writes about military/defense issues and has covered conflict in the Balkans, on the West Bank, in Iraq and Lebanon. He is the author of six books, and his articles appear in a variety of publications. E-mail him at marine1@uswriter.com. 




January 26, 2011
The Honorable Bill Rabon
North Carolina General Assembly
16 West Jones Street, Room 2108
Raleigh, NC 27601‑2808
Re: Support For A Foreign Law Protection Amendment.
Dear State Senator. Rabon,
Good evening Sir.  I hope this message finds you doing well.  
As your constituent, I wanted to bring your attention to the below Human Events news article.  I find it troubling that this type of law is even needed, but unfortunately, with the federal government overreaching more and more each day and dedicating more of our taxpayers' money to the United Nations, passing such a law goes a long way in protecting our Constitutional Rights and civil liberties.  It would also aid in upholding the Separation of Church and State, therefore stopping the interjection of  personal beliefs and radical religious law, such as Islamic Shariah Law, into our legal system.   As a former U.S. Marine, four tour Iraq War veteran, and current Army Reservist, I take our national defense and sovereignty very seriously, and like you, I took an oath to uphold our Constitution.  I ask that you introduce or support the introduction and passage of foreign law protection legislation for North Carolina.  Similar bills have already been introduced in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Louisiana.  

In closing, as the new legislative session gets underway, I am sure that you and your colleagues will be very busy.  Therefore, thank you very much for your time.  Any information or feedback that you can provide regarding this issue is greatly appreciated.  I hope to hear from you soon.

Respectfully,




Mr. Aaron D. Yeargan
[Contact Information Included In Original]