| Thursday, 02 February 2012 09:11 |
| PIERRE, S.D. (AP) _ The state Senate Judiciary Committee will not advance a bill to regulate the use of foreign law in South Dakota courts. Senators voted 5-2 to kill the bill brought forward by Sen. Dan Lederman, a Dakota Dunes Republican. Sioux Falls attorney Joel Arends says it would have prevented the use of foreign orders and judgments from being used in civil _ not criminal _ cases. The bill's supporters say it would address Sioux Falls' changing demographics, which include refugees from Iraq and Sudan, and would prevent state courts from being swayed by ``harmful foreign laws cloaked in quasi-religious terms of other nations.'' But opponents say if a judge ignores the Constitution and allows foreign law to sway his or her decision, the judge would just as likely ignore this statute. (Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) |
