Koran controversy hits the legislature
For those who remember the controversy over whether someone should be allowed to swear on a Koran in court, a bill has been filed in the General Assembly to allow just that.
Sen. Eleanor Kinnaird has filed SB 88 “AN ACT to clarify the existing law on administration of oaths.”
From the Associated Press:
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Courtroom oaths could be taken using sacred texts other than the Bible in a bill filed in the state Senate on Wednesday, three weeks after a state appeals court agreed to let a lawsuit challenging the existing state law continue.A Muslim woman and the North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union have sued the state because she was not allowed to swear an oath on the Quran in 2003 when she was called as a witness in a court case. State law allows witnesses to use only the Bible when swearing or affirming truthful testimony.
The state Court of Appeals last month reversed a lower court decision that threw out the lawsuit questioning law's constitutionality.
The bill filed by state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, would allow an oath-taker to place a hand ''upon the Bible or any text sacred to the party's religious faith.''
The court system wouldn't be required to provide additional sacred texts other than the Bible, but it could accept donations of those books to help administer the law.
Kinnaird's bill also would make clear that oaths could be performed without the words ''so help me God'' if appropriate to the person's faith.
If this gets to a committee hearing, it should provide some interesting debate.
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