Sponsors (2)
The bill makes 'implementing Sharia law' a clearer, enforceable basis to challenge discriminatory public‑accommodation practices—strengthening legal recourse for customers and standardizing enforcement—but it risks stigmatizing Muslim communities and triggering substantial constitutional litigation and new legal burdens for businesses and governments.
Customers and individual patrons gain a clearer statutory basis to sue or challenge public‑accommodation policies that treat people differently on the basis of religion when those policies are defended as 'implementing Sharia law.'
State and local governments and enforcement agencies get a more standardized legal basis to treat the 'implementation of Sharia law' as a definable basis for discrimination claims under the federal public‑accommodation statute, which can make enforcement more consistent.
Muslim individuals, communities, and organizations could face increased stigma, surveillance, or disparate enforcement because the law singles out 'Sharia law,' raising risks of religious profiling and social harm.
Courts and governments may be drawn into complex, high‑stakes litigation over what counts as 'implementing Sharia law,' producing constitutional (Free Exercise/Establishment) challenges and legal uncertainty for religiously informed practices.
Businesses and nonprofits covered by the public‑accommodation statute could face new litigation risk and legal costs if their practices are characterized as implementing 'Sharia law,' increasing regulatory and compliance uncertainty especially for small organizations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Treats a covered establishment’s provision of goods or services "via implementing Sharia law" as religious discrimination under the public‑accommodation statute.
Official title: Amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to improve prohibitions on discrimination by public accommodations.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by John Cornyn · Last progress February 12, 2026
Amends the Civil Rights Act’s public‑accommodation provision to specify that a covered business or facility that “implements Sharia law” in providing goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations will be treated as discriminating or segregating on the basis of religion. The change simply adds implementation of Sharia law to the list of conduct treated as unlawful religious discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 2000a(a).