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Philadelphia City Council members Curtis Jones, Jr. and Maria Quinones Sanchez have introduced Resolution 120031, which sends an overnight package straight to Harrisburg containing one (1) middle finger. The Resolution, as yet unnamed, "Urg[es] the Pennsylvania General Assembly to reject House Bill 2029 as unnecessary and inconsistent with our core constitutional principles…affirming that the Council of the City of Philadelphia welcomes all religious beliefs, traditions and heritages."
House Bill 2029, what's that? Glad you asked. It's what's being referred to in some circles as the Anti-Foreign Law Bill. In others: the Anti-Sharia Law Bill. Introduced by Rep. Rosemarie Swanger (R-Lebanon), the bill would ban all cases of foreign law infused in Pennsylvania courts. Muslim and Jewish law is often used in court as it regards divorce and personal matters, but there is no evidence of foreign law being used to define actual court cases in Pennsylvania. Many advocacy groups, like the Council on American-Islamic Relations, believe bills like HB 2029 are meant to induce anti-Muslim fervor the country over.
Last we heard about this bill, Rep. Swanger told us her intent had nothing to do with a threat of Sharia Law, even though that'll be included. Swanger's intent was allegedly stated on a memo she sent out before the bill was introduced, in which she stated, "America has unique laws of liberty which do not exist in foreign legal systems, particularly Sharia Law." And: "We are a nation of laws. Unfortunately, increasingly, foreign laws and legal doctrines—including and especially Sharia Law—are finding their way into U.S. court cases."