Fear of Sharia law could cause Idaho to lose millions in federal funding

Idaho flag.
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Conservatives in the Idaho legislature stopped a measure on Friday that would have brought the state into compliance with federal rules on child support payments, and provided millions of dollars in federal funding.

State Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll (R) testified that federal regulations on child support are tied to the Hague Convention on International Recovery of Child Support, which she said would subject the state to Sharia law, The Associated Press reports. Although none of the 80 countries involved in the treaty fall under Sharia law, and the state attorney general's office said that Idaho judges could reject other nation's child support rulings they do not believe meet the state's standards, Nuxoll and several others remained skeptical.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.