Rabbi Jonathan Hausman
Yesterday, Florida bill SB58, Application of Foreign Law in Certain Cases, was approved by a split vote of five to four at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Children, Family and Elder Affairs. The Committee hearing was chaired by Sen. Eleanor Sobel (D). Vice Chair, Alan Hays is the sponsor of the Florida version of American Law for American Courts. There was public testimony by both opponents and supporters of SB58. There was testimony by retired senior military officers from the Vidal group and Rep..Larry Metz, the House Sponsor of HB351 who ably articulated the central purposes of SB58. Among those appearing in opposition were David Barkey, religious freedom counsel of the Anti-Defamation League, Carlos Osorio of the International Law Section of the Florida Bar Association and Ms. Linda Geller Schwartz of the National Council of Jewish Women.
At the conclusion of public testimony, Chair Ms. Sobel asked Sen. Hays for his comments. He promptly read Rabbi Jonathan Hausman’s Iconoclast article we published rebutting a SunSentinel op ed by a trio of authors, including two of the witnesses in yesterday’s hearing, Messrs. Barkey and Osorio. Watch the testimony and Sen. Hays’ recital of Rabbi Hausman’s prior article beginning at the 64 minute mark in the video of yesterday’s Florida Senate Committee proceedings. The vote on SB58 was split with 5 for and 4 against granting approval. One Republican Senator, Miguel Diaz de la Portilla voted against the bill, while one Democrat, Sen. Geraldine Thompson voted for the measure. Sen. Diaz de la Portilla had submitted an Amendment to SB58 that he promptly withdrew upon presentation. SB58 now moves to the Florida Rules Committee for a hearing, the last stop prior before a Senate floor vote before the current session in Tallahassee ends in early May. Hopefully the Florida ALAC bill will pass on its third consideration by the Florida Legislature and be enacted into law by Gov. Rick Scott.
Rabbi Hausman had prepared a rebuttal to an article on Florida SB 58 that appeared in today’s Palm Beach Post, only to have it rejected upon submission by the paper’s editorial page editor for publication. We are publishing it here.
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Neither International Trade or Jewish Domestic Law are Threatened by American Law for American Courts
By Rabbi Jonathan Hausman, Esq.
The comments cited in the Palm Beach Post article, “Bill banning Shariah law in Florida family cases passes Senate panel”, regarding Florida Senate Bill 58 are clearly incorrect in their assertions. David Barkey of the Anti-Defamation League and Ms. Linda Geller Schwartz, of the National Council of Jewish Women wrongly suggest that SB58, which deals with the application of foreign law in certain state court cases, would undermine Florida’s international trade relations “as a center for trade with Israel and other nations” and “serve as an incentive for them to take their business elsewhere”. They also claim that “the bill would have a negative impact on Jewish divorces, called “gets,” and could trouble the state’s relationship with Israel. Under Jewish law, only a man can grant a divorce to a woman.” These suggestions are entirely incorrect as a matter of law.
To begin with, it should be pointed out that neither Mr. Barkey or Ms. Schwartz are properly credentialed to opine on Jewish religious law regarding domestic matters such divorce, pre-nuptial agreements or child custody.
What the public needs to understand is simply that the objective of SB58 is to ensure that Florida’s state courts will not apply any foreign law or foreign legal doctrine if the application of that foreign law or foreign legal doctrine would result in the violation of a party’s Constitutional Rights. It is incorrect to characterize the bill as a blanket ban on foreign law. Further, nowhere in this measure is Sharia even mentioned. The key question in this debate is whether Florida’s courts should possibly diminish the rights and protections of often vulnerable parties, particularly women and children, by deferring to specific points of foreign law that conflict with our Constitutional legal system. The supporters of SB58 believe that Florida’s courts should uphold the rights and protections granted by the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights without exception.
The above was not been lost on the Members of the Florida Senate Committee on Children, Families and Elder Affairs, who approved SB58 at their April 8th hearing in Tallahassee.
Let me state my qualifications.
My name is Rabbi Jonathan Hausman. I am spiritual leader at Ahavath Torah Congregation in Stoughton, Massachusetts. I have a BA in Judaic Studies, MA in International Affairs concentrating on the Middle East (both degrees from The George Washington University), JD from Emory University (licensed to practice in the State of Connecticut and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania), and my Rabbinic degree from Kollel Lomdei Torah of The Tifereth Israel Rabbinical Yeshiva. I spent a great deal of time living and studying in the Middle East having lived and worked in Israel and studied at The American University of Cairo. I am the author of Halacha, Sharia and the Religious Acceptance of Constitutional Governance, New English Review, October 2009.
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