New AG Who Will Defend Anti-Shariah Amendment Profiled As Backers Look To Other States

An article in yesterday's Christian Century profiles the new attorney general of Oklahoma who will take office January 1 and will be active in defending Oklahoma's anti-Shariah constitutional amendment that is currently being challenged in court. A federal district court has issued a preliminary injunction preventing certification of the November vote that approved the amendment. (See prior posting.) Attorney-general elect Scott Pruitt, a Republican, is a former state senator who in 2000 co-authored Oklahoma's Religious Freedom Act. Pruitt, who is also co-owner of the Oklahoma City Redhawks minor league baseball team, was strongly backed by Christian Conservatives in the November election. Meanwhile, Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, who advised one of the drafters of the anti-Shariah amendment, says that they are looking ahead to proposing similar amendments in other states.  He reported:  "We've already started drafting amendments similar to this that would be even more constitutionally airtight."