A bill floating around the Idaho Legislature seems to assume that Idaho judges do not know what law they are supposed to interpret and apply. House Bill 419 says it is the public policy of Idaho “to protect its citizens from the application of foreign laws when the application of foreign law will result in the violation of a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution of the United States or the constitution of the state of Idaho.” Where to start?
At the outset, it seems strange that the bill would permit the application of foreign law when it would not violate a fundamental right. The fact is that Idaho judges do not apply foreign law in deciding their cases, even if it would not violate someone’s rights. And, they would certainly transgress their oath of office if they applied a foreign law in violation of someone’s constitutional rights. That is why the proponents of House Bill 419 cannot point to one instance where an Idaho judge has done so.
Idaho does not need a poorly-written statute to protect its citizens from violation of their fundamental rights. It already has two powerful legal documents that Idaho courts have relied upon since statehood to protect those rights–the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Idaho. Those documents effectively protect citizens’ rights against all laws, foreign and domestic, that would threaten them.
Quite frankly, I cannot recall any instance in my 50 years as an Idaho lawyer where there was even a remote possibility that a foreign law threatened the rights of any person in Idaho. However, I can recall a number of instances where laws enacted by the Idaho Legislature threatened to deprive citizens of their fundamental rights. In those instances, courts have struck down the statutes as violative of constitutional protections.
The sponsor of House Bill 419 has said in the past that his proposal would protect against “Islamic Sharia law.” There is simply no reason to believe an Idaho judge would violate his or her oath of office by resorting to a religious body of law to decide cases. The Idaho Constitution requires a strict separation between church and state. Our judges observe that separation in their decisions. There is more concern that legislative acts may violate the separation. For instance, even though Idaho law makes it a felony offense for parents to deprive their children of necessary food and medical care, the Legislature has exempted those who claim the law violates their religious practices.
House Bill 419 serves absolutely no purpose, other than to cast a shadow on a certain religious group. It implies that Idaho judges are likely to violate their oath of office by applying laws from foreign countries and that they must be restrained from doing so. The bill is poorly written, quite confusing, unnecessary, and an insult to the Idaho judiciary. It should be allowed to die a quiet death.
