North Carolina Judge Rules Witnesses May Swear on Koran in Court

By Anastacia Mott Austin

North Carolina judge Paul Ridgeway ruled today that "any religious text" may be used to swear in court witnesses, after the American Civil Liberties Union pursued a lawsuit claiming that using only the Bible is discriminatory.

The ACLU claimed that existing law is expansive enough to interpret oath-taking to include other texts besides the Christian Bible, and unconstitutional if read otherwise.

A previous suit in December of 2005 had been dismissed because there were no actual litigants claiming discrimination. After the ACLU added claimant Syidah Mateen, who had been denied her request to take oath with her hand on the Koran in a case in 2003, the suit was allowed to proceed.

North Carolina state law presently stipulates that court witnesses or jurors may take the oath in several different ways: by saying "So help me God" with no religious text, by making an affirmation without religious symbols, or by placing a hand on "the Holy Scriptures."

In his ruling, Judge Ridgeway wrote that witnesses may take oath on a "text most sacred and obligatory upon their conscience," adding that laws regarding swearing in in North Carolina are based on Christianity but don’t prevent people of other faiths from being able to take oath according to their own beliefs.

The ACLU views this as a clear victory. Seth Cohen, the ACLU attorney, told the press, "As of today all people can use the holy text of their choice. We think it’s a great victory."

Interest in the issue has been generated recently by the United States congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn), who converted to Islam as a college student and used the Koran at his swearing in ceremony in January. The decision was considered by some as controversial, and by at least one Republican congressman as a "threat to the nation’s traditional values."