The latest case of paranoia

Opinion: May 19, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Los Angeles Times: A federal appeals court will soon consider a challenge to an Oklahoma measure prohibiting the use of Sharia, or Islamic law, in the state’s courts. The constitutional amendment is part of a national trend in which politicians argue that it is vital to prevent Sharia from insinuating itself into the administration of justice in U.S. courts. Never mind that there is scant evidence that American judges are resolving cases on the basis of Sharia.

Like the belief that President Obama wasn’t born in the United States, the fear that Islamic law will become a touchstone of American justice is delusional. What is depressing is how widespread it is. The American Civil Liberties Unionsays 24 states have adopted or considered measures forbidding the use of Islamic law. In the paranoid anti-communism of the 1950s, some Americans feared a Red under every bed. Now the dark fantasy is an imam on the bench.