Tue
Mar 1 2011
09:51 am
Makes following elements of Shariah law a felony
By: R. Neal

Bill Nbr: SB1028
Sponsor: Ketron
Status:
Next sched. action:

Description:

"The general assembly declares as follows:

(1) The threat from sharia-based jihad and terrorism presents a real and present danger to the lawful governance of this state and to the peaceful enjoyment of citizenship by the residents of this state;

(2) The response to this threat from sharia-based jihad and terrorism and this state’s interest in interdicting and preventing violence and mayhem within its borders is a compelling state interest;"

The bill has earned Tennessee more national ridicule. The sponsors admit it is "model legislation" provided to them by the "Tennessee Eagle Forum" and has apparently been spread around to other states.

More info...
reform4's picture

Uninteded Consequences

Submitted by reform4 on Tue, 2011/03/01 - 10:31am.

Since 'Sharia' law involves certain common acts, the following could be considered felonies, because the government can't look into your mind and determine your thoughts, they can only judge your actions:

- Praying at the wrong times
- Tithing
- Fasting (which many people do for health)
- Any laws or policies of a group prohibiting alcohol could be considered 'Sharia-ish'
- Laws against homosexuality might also be considered Shariah-like, and therefore a felony to enforce.

But of course, this puts the power in one person (the AG) to determine what is and isn't a Sharia organization. Why aren't the Tea Partiers up in arms about this concentration of government power? We should all be allowed to designate what is and isn't a Sharia organization!

We just need a full page ad in KNS, a la the Chamber, that says "THIS LAW MAY LIMIT YOUR RIGHT TO PRAY AND TITHE!!!!"

Andy Axel's picture

Sharia's just another word

Submitted by Andy Axel on Tue, 2011/03/01 - 11:19am.

Sharia's just another word for "thou shalt have no other Gods before me."

This occurs to me when I think on the notion that Ketron would probably have no problem foisting ritual copies of the Ten Commandments in the public square.

(Not to mention that Moses, peace be upon him, is a prophet of Islam.)

R. Neal's picture

Rutherford Co. Daily News

Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 2011/03/01 - 10:43am.

Rutherford Co. Daily News Journal:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations will hold a press conference at noon today in Nashville to respond to state Sen. Bill Ketron's Shariah law bill that he contends is about making terrorism activity a felony.

"This clearly unconstitutional and un-American legislation would make it illegal to be a Muslim in the state of Tennessee," CAIR Staff Attorney Gadeir Abbas said in a news release sent out Monday. "Consideration of this legislation, which completely disregards equality before the law, would send the unfortunate message that Tennessee is an intolerant state."

(By way of Michael Silence)

R. Neal's picture

We need the Yes Men to form a

Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 2011/03/01 - 11:23am.

We need the Yes Men to form a fake right-wing think tank and make up some goofy bills and see how many they can get introduced.

R. Neal's picture

A reader emailed Ketron about

Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 2011/03/01 - 4:39pm.

A reader emailed Ketron about the bill. Ketron's response:

"Thanks for your e-mail concerning SB1028. First, I would ask you before you react to this piece of legislation that you actually go to the state’s website and read the bill and not react to misinformation printed in the local media. The media seems to have their own agenda compared to my piece of legislation.

The purpose of my bill is to criminalize the process of material support for Shariah organizations. This bill has been specifically drafted and vetted for our state. It is closely modeled after the federal anti-terrorism and material support statutes. The federal statutes have been upheld as constitutional facially and as applied by the U.S. Supreme Court and the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

The legislative intent is to only regulate threats from Shariah-based jihad and not the peaceful practice of any religion. It allows the State Attorney General to identify Shariah organizations by concluding that such organization has received by means of any property tangible or intangible or service including currency, monetary instruments, financial securities, commercial equipment as well as weapons of lethal substance, explosives, as well as transportation that would enable such organization to declare jihad against the citizens of this state.

I believe that anyone in this country has the right to worship however they so choose. This bill has nothing to do with religion/worship but focuses on terrorism like Carlos Bledsoe, aka Abdulhahim Mohammed, who was from Memphis and charged with a capital murder in the 2009 shooting death of a soldier in
Arkansas. Homeland Security, just last year, identified and broke up 22 homegrown terrorist plots. This bill is to protect our citizens from those who have declared jihad and not to prevent them from worshipping in our state.

I am sorry we fail to see eye to eye on this most important issue that confronts our citizens, but don’t always believe everything you read in today’s media.

Respectfully,
Senator Bill Ketron"

reform4's picture

Isn't terrorism and terrorist organizations already outlawed????

Submitted by reform4 on Wed, 2011/03/02 - 4:01pm.

What in the world does this bill add, other than prohibiting the exercise of religion??

Tamara Shepherd's picture

*

Submitted by Tamara Shepherd on Thu, 2011/03/03 - 11:25am.

Reform4 asks, rhetorically:

Isn't terrorism and terrorist organizations already outlawed????

Of course they are, Steve, and I notice one KNS poster helpfully shared existing instruction to that effect in U. S. Code, here:

From the U.S. code:

Unlawful conduct.— Whoever knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both, and, if the death of any person results, shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life. To violate this paragraph, a person must have knowledge that the organization is a designated terrorist organization (as defined in subsection (g)(6)), that the organization has engaged or engages in terrorist activity (as defined in section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act), or that the organization has engaged or engages in terrorism (as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989).
(link...)...
...

That KNS poster also shared Ketron's proposed text for our state code, here:

From the proposed Tennessee bill:

39-13-906.
(a)
(1)
(A) Any person who knowingly provides material support or
resources to a designated sharia organization, or attempts or conspires to
do so, shall commit an offense.
(B) A violation of subdivision (a)(1)(A) is a Class B felony,
punishable by fine, imprisonment of not less than fifteen (15) years or
both; provided, that if the death of any person results from a violation of
subdivision (a)(1)(A), then the offense is a Class A felony, punishable by
imprisonment for life or imprisonment for life without possibility of parole.
(C) To violate this subsection (a), a person must have knowledge
that the organization:
(i) Is a designated sharia organization, or
(ii) Has engaged or engages in:
(a) One (1) or more acts of terrorism, as defined in
§ 39-13-803, targeting a person or institution in
Tennessee; - 14 - 00269676
(b) Terrorist activity in this state or from within this
state, as defined by federal law pursuant to § 212(a)(3)(B)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act; or
(c) Terrorism in this state or from within this state
as defined in § 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations
Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989
(link...)...

Sadly, though, the KNS poster shared the two texts in an attempt to support his postion that Ketron's proposed bill is lawful because it is virtually identical to existing instruction in federal law.

Uh...no.

The federal law, of course, focuses solely on what behaviors constitute criminal acts--without regard to what citizens may potentially commit those criminal acts--and how we will punish the criminal acts.

Ketron's state proposal, though, goes a step further to suggest in what group such criminals may exist.

Big difference.

Too many folks over there aren't grasping it.

salvador dalai llama's picture

Ketron's response appears to be a lie

Submitted by salvador dalai llama on Sun, 2011/03/06 - 11:47pm.

I Am Not A Lawyer, but there's a line in the bill which makes all his "oh it's only for terrorists" crap a lie:

Under this bill, any rule, precept, instruction, or edict arising directly from the extant rulings of any of the authoritative schools of Islamic jurisprudence of Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali, Ja'afariya, or Salafi, as those terms are used by sharia adherents, is prima facie sharia without any further evidentiary showing.

It took me 15 seconds of googling to find this on Wikipedia:
Among the four established Sunni schools of legal thought in Islam, the Hanafi school is the oldest. It has a reputation for putting greater emphasis on the role of reason and being more liberal than the other three schools.

So, if your organization believes that, for instance, the opinions of any of the four major schools of Sunni thought should be followed, then it is "prima facie" a sharia organization. It then takes a court case, a finding by the AG, or AN ACT OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE to remove that designation. Meanwhile, all your assets are blocked. Good luck paying for that court hearing. Or eating.

gonzone's picture

It's stuff like this

Submitted by gonzone on Wed, 2011/03/02 - 3:33pm.

It's stuff like this Tennessee! That makes me deeply ashamed to admit I live here.

CE Petro's picture

And the crap emails against

Submitted by CE Petro on Thu, 2011/03/03 - 7:33am.

And the crap emails against Sharia Law are ratcheting up, the subject line of the most recent one I've received says "Scary...don't delete" (I checked snopes.com and this one started it's rounds in 2009 -- but it's the first I remember seeing it)
Honestly I couldn't even read it all. Near the end you find, in bold, red type:
(In twenty years there will be enough Muslim voters in the U.S. To elect the President by themselves! Rest assured they will do so... You can look at how they have taken over several towns in the USA .. Dearborn Mich. Is one... And there are others...)
Then goes on to blast the ACLU.

I usually just delete these sorts of things, without reading them, but coming on the heels of TN's legislatures radicalism, I couldn't help but write a nasty reply back to my mom (who sent this crap on to me in the first place), noting that if she wanted to believe this garbage she should move to TN and live amongst the radical deniers.

Sigh.

R. Neal's picture

KNS editorial

Submitted by R. Neal on Thu, 2011/03/03 - 10:34am.

KNS Editorial:

The bill ostensibly addresses terrorism but in reality outlaws a religion. That's unacceptable, unsupportable and unconscionable. It's also unconstitutional on a variety of fronts.

Lots more, good editorial.

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