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La Salle County Board rescinds resolution denouncing ‘Sharia law’ · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  La Salle County Board rescinds resolution denouncing Sharia Law. Written by Michael
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  Urbanac. This article is being read by an automated voice brought to
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  you by Everlet. LaSalle County board members voted 16-12 to rescind a
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  resolution denouncing Sharia law, reversing the board’s 13-12 decision to approve it
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  Oct. 8. Before the vote, the county’s attorney warned that the resolution
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  would be declared unconstitutional once someone sued.
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  Patrick Herrmann, the attorney representing the county, said it is unconstitutional for
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  the government, including La Salle County, to discriminate against any religion.
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  Board member James Reid, who brought the resolution forward, challenged the result.
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  He argued that rescission needed a two-thirds vote because notice was not
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  given at the prior meeting.
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  According to Robert’s Rules, it should be two-thirds, Reid said. I don’t
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  agree with that.
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  Board Chairman Don Jensen read a rule that allows a simple majority
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  when prior notice is given. He said the item’s place on the
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  agenda met that requirement: So the notice has been given, and it
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  was on the agenda.
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  After a five-minute recess, Jensen said his reading had some consensus and
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  acknowledged a disagreement. The board kept the simple-majority result.
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  There’s no better definition of discrimination than having one religion, one entity,
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  out of however many religions there are in this world, but one
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  entity is named in this resolution, Herrmann said. That’s why it’s unconstitutional.
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  Board member William Brown asked what was unconstitutional about the resolution, then
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  pushed back on the answer.
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  You’re saying that Sharia is a religion, and it’s a law, Brown
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  said. It ain’t a religion, it’s a law.
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  The crowd applauded. Jensen called for quiet, and Herrmann responded.
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  It’s based on a religion. And then you mention Islam. That is
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  a religion, Herrmann said. I don’t think there’s any question about it
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  that this resolution’s going to be declared unconstitutional. And to do that,
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  somebody files a lawsuit.
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  Reid spoke as the last listed speaker during public comment. He invited
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  board members who supported the resolution to stand with him, then read
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  their statement.
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  Reid said that, according to congress.gov, a similar measure by U.S. Rep.
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  Keith Self, R-Texas, is non-binding and carries no legal authority.
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  The statement described the Oct. 8 resolution as one affirming the supremacy
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  of the United States Constitution and expressing its opposition to the application
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  of Islamic Sharia law in governmental and judicial proceedings within La Salle
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  County.
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  Reid said the statement responded to remarks by a longtime board member,
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  whom he did not name. That member had described the resolution as
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  a discriminatory ban on a religion.
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  Nowhere does the resolution seek to prohibit anyone from practicing Islam, worshiping
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  according to their faith, attending mosque, or exercising their constitutionally protected religious
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  freedoms, Reid said.
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  He said a non-binding resolution creates no criminal offense and gives the
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  sheriff’s office or state’s attorney no authority to enforce anything.
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  Those of us standing here stand by that resolution, Reid said.
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  Briggs Kremsky read a statement from the US Patriot Society, which said
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  it objected to the resolution’s language on constitutional grounds.
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  We would rather have no resolution on this subject than the one
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  that contributes to the degradation of that very constitutional principle which we
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  came to defend, the statement said.
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  Michelle Peterson of Defend LaSalle, the group that first pushed for a
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  constitutional resolution, said members believe part of the adopted resolution is unconstitutional.
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  She asked the board to write a new one combining both versions.
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  Board member Brian Dose, who supported rescission, said the board has not
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  helped Norway-area residents with the tax fallout from the closed Fox River
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  Resort. He has proposed a committee to address it.
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  The first thing we have to do is rescind this resolution and
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  fix it, and then come back through a committee and actually put
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  something behind it, a financial commitment and a dedication to the Constitution,
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  Dose said.
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  At the Oct. 8 meeting, members on both sides tied the resolution
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  to the Fox River Resort, which closed in October 2025. Jamil Ahmed
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  Sukhera, founder of Vairt, had planned to buy the property. He has
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  denied, in interviews with Shaw Local and on the V Resort Living
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  Facebook page, that there were ever plans to run the resort under
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  Sharia law.