On April 21, the Arkansas Senate chose to focus on pointless culture war issues that don’t affect any Arkansans instead of dealing with real issues we’re facing. Don’t worry about rising utility prices, a shrinking reserve fund, or terrible healthcare access. No, the real emergency the Senate chooses to focus on… isn’t much of an emergency at all.
The Senate authorized the introduction of Senate Resolution 21, sponsored by soon-to-be former Sen. Blake Johnson (R-Corning) and Sen. Jim Dotson (R-Bentonville), by a vote of 25 Yeas, 6 Nays, and 3 Non-votes.
The legislation, titled the “Arkansas Property Rights Protection From Sharia Law Act”, purports to protect consumers and property owners. It requires that a purchaser be informed if they are not purchasing actual property, but an “interest” in an entity that manages the property. Furthermore, it would prevent “managing entities” of properties from “imposing requirements” to maintain interest or refusing to grant any interest in the property’s managing entity. It also requires that a court created under Arkansas or federal law mediate any disputes.
That’s a lot of legalese. Let’s break it down.
The resolution mirrors HR1016, which died in committee last week. The sponsors of this legislation saw a story from Texas in which a growing, vibrant Muslim community in North Texas wanted to build a housing development that catered to their needs. Despite the fact that United States law preempts Sharia law, opponents of the development stoked unfounded fears that the development would harbor terrorists, honor killings, and domestic abuse. This is, of course, nonsense, but that’s never stopped extremist Arkansas politicians.
SR21 prevents any kind of similar development in Arkansas. Potential residents of a housing community couldn’t be required to follow the Islamic faith. They would not be allowed to use a faith-based tribunal to resolve any kind of property dispute.
Again, this is ridiculous. Fair housing laws prevent this anyway. There’s absolutely no reason to pass this law.
Unless, of course, you hate Muslims.
As hate so often does, this law would have unintended consequences. The House version died in the Rules Subcommittee because legislators were concerned about these knock-on effects. This bill could affect the rights of homeowners’ and property owners’ associations to seek arbitration and mediation outside the court system. Put otherwise, it might require members of these associations to sue each other instead of just… working it out. It will affect all religious groups’ ability to associate with one another on property they own. It curtails the right of citizens to enter into contracts with one another.
And, of course, there’s the obvious. This is an obvious and massive violation of the First Amendment rights of our Islamic neighbors in Arkansas.
This is what the Senate is focusing on instead of rising utility prices, a shrinking reserve fund, and a healthcare system that’s shuttering hospital services in some of our largest cities.
The bill heads to a Senate committee next. If it passes, it heads back to the Senate floor before moving back over to the House. We’ll follow it the whole way.
