LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Supporters are turning up the heat to try and move legislation they say would ban implementation of Islamic Sharia as part of a broader curb on use of "foreign law."
About 150 people gathered Thursday near the state Capitol to hear advocates for House and Senate bills modeled after a proposal dubbed "American Laws for American Courts," written for a group called the American Public Policy Alliance.
Similar legislation has been proposed in about two dozen states and approved in three.
The bills don't specifically mention Sharia, which broadly refers to codes within the Islamic legal system. But Sharia was frequently cited as a concern by speakers and attendees of the event.
The Michigan Catholic Conference and Council on American-Islamic Relations' Michigan chapter are among groups opposing the legislation.
