GREENSBORO, N.C., June 21 (UPI) -- Judicial conferences in North Carolina will try to determine if Muslim court witnesses can be allowed to the take the oath using the Koran instead of the Bible.
The issue has come up several times in the state, most recently in Greensboro, where Guilford Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Douglas Albright, who sets policy for the county's nine Superior Court courtrooms ruled against it.
Officials with the state's Administrative Office of the Courts in Raleigh said they are trying to come up with a statewide policy on the issue before the controversy snowballs, spokesman Dick Ellis told the Greensboro News-Record.
Ellis said there is concern allowing the Koran could create new challenges. He questioned what would happen if a person claimed to worship brick walls and wanted to swear the oath on a brick.
"We don't want to complicate this simple procedure here," Ellis said.
The topic will be discussed at two judicial conferences in Asheville and Wrightsville Beach this week, the report said.
