Judicial choice: Shariah comes to Canada.

• Author: Walker, Jesse
• Position: Citings - Brief Article

STARTING THIS YEAR, Muslims in Ontario can settle their disputes in religious Shariah courts. This development shocked pundits on both sides of the border: Andrew Sullivan wrote that it's "horrifying," the Muslim-bashing blog Little Green Footballs called it "dangerous and utterly wrong-headed," and various writers wondered whether this meant Canadian women could be stoned to death for adultery. But there's an important difference between Canada's Shariah courts and those of, say, Afghanistan: In Ontario, no one will be forced to follow Islamic law.

Indeed, Muslims there are simply setting up the same sort of voluntary institutions that Ontarian Jews have enjoyed for centuries. As Rabbi Reuven Tradburks told The Washington Post, traditional Jewish courts, known as batei din, "have been operating in Toronto for as long as Jews have been here." A less formalized Koranic arbitration system...