OCTOBER 17 • 2019 | 31

continued on page 34

continued on page 34

Even though these were
 diff
 erent faiths, the concept
 is still the same. 

— ROQUIA DRAPER

2019 legal directory

(beit din) regarding the 
issuance of a get, or Jewish 
divorce decree, so that his 
ex-wife would be free to 
remarry under Jewish law. By 
the terms of their ketubah, 
the husband had agreed to 
appear before the beit din to 
settle any disputes.
The New York court 
ruled that a ketubah met all 
the requirements of a civil 
contract and that enforcing 
it did not violate the sepa-
ration of church and state. 
The court ordered then the 
ex-husband to submit to the 
beit din, as required by the 
ketubah.
The New York judges 
noted that citizens are free to 

enter into valid contracts — 
including religious marriage 
contracts — and have them 
enforced in court.
Representing the wife 
in the Michigan case was 
attorney Roquia 
Draper, a 
Muslim who 
practices family 
law with the 
firm Warner 
Norcross + Judd 
in Southfield. In 
her legal research 
for the case, she came across 
several appellate decisions 
in other states that involved 
ketuvot. She saw a similarity 
with her client’
s position 
where the wife relied on a 

Roquia 
Draper

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