During the future agenda items section of September 15 meeting, which also proclaimed Sept. 17-23 “Constitution Week,” Fountain Hills councilman Allen Skillicorn requested a “Florida-style ordinance banning Sharia law” from the town. Councilmembers Hannah Larrabee and Rick Watts supported the request. In an email to Arizona Globe, Skillcorn says he’s currently drafting that ordinance.
This will, he says, “protect the First Amendment Rights for people of faith while making clear that the United States Constitution remains the supreme law of the land. Americans should be free to practice their religion without government interference, but no religious or legal system should supersede the Constitution or deny Americans their constitutional rights.”
Neither the council record or Skillicorn’s email identified a local incident that prompted the request. He says, “American religious freedom means the government protects your right to practice your faith—not let an extremist group compete with the Constitution.” Specifically, he was referring to a letter from the Muslim advocacy group CAIR, which wrote to Fountain Hills after hearing of the meeting.
Skillicorn provided the Sept. 21 email from CAIR-Arizona civil-rights director Martín Quezada, plus an attached three-page letter. Quezada, in a conciliatory tone, offered to meet with the mayor, council and town manager “to resolve any misunderstandings” involving Fountain Hills’ Muslim residents before official action that could raise First Amendment issues.
The accompanying letter was more direct: CAIR said the proposal “would solve no problem,” duplicates existing Arizona law and exposes the town to constitutional and financial risk. Arizona statute 12-3103 already bars courts, arbitrators, agencies and enforcement authorities from enforcing foreign law when doing so would violate constitutional rights or conflict with Arizona or federal law.
“Sharia plays the same role for American Muslims that canon law plays for Catholic Americans and halacha plays for Jewish Americans,” the letter said. “None of these traditions overrides the Constitution, and no one can impose these traditions on others. As proposed, this ordinance would name only Islam. Halacha and canon law would go unmentioned.”
Senate bill 1018 would have specifically added Sharia law to Arizona’s definition of foreign law. It passed the Legislature and Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed it June 19. The Legislature’s final fact sheet says Hobbs’ rationale was that Sharia was already covered by existing state and federal law.
Quezada added, “CAIR-AZ prefers dialogue to litigation. But if the Town advances an ordinance that targets Muslim residents or the Islamic faith, CAIR-AZ is prepared to pursue all available legal remedies, including action in federal court on behalf of the chapter and affected residents, and to seek attorney’s fees to the fullest extent the law allows.”
Skillicorn appears undeterred.
“Sharia law threatens the values of western civilization and America itself,” he told Arizona Globe. “Every town, municipality, state, and our federal government needs to draw a line in the sand.”
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