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U.S.ENGLISH CHAIRMAN BLASTS 11^th CIRCUIT COURT

Ruling Would Create "Constitutional Right to Services in Any Language"

WASHINGTON, DC—U.S.ENGLISH Chairman/CEO Mauro E. Mujica today blasted the 11^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which upheld a lower court ruling that Alabama’s state official English policy is "discriminatory" on the basis of national origin. "This ruling could create a nightmare for taxpayers and consumers at all levels," Mujica explained. "Essentially, the Court is claiming that if you don’t speak English, you have a Constitutional right to receive service in whatever language you do speak."

U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent ruled in June 1998 that the state policy of offering driver’s license exams only in English discriminated against Alabama’s 13,000 non-English speaking residents. After Judge Dement’s ruling, the state’s Department of Public Safety began offering driver’s exams in Spanish, German, Korean, Japanese, French, Mandarin Chinese, and Vietnamese. The department had discontinued offering foreign-language exams in 1991, after voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment declaring English as Alabama’s official language.

"The implications of this decision are truly mind-boggling," Mujica continued. "After all, if the state ‘discriminates’ by not giving driver’s tests in foreign languages, why not extend the protection to all other government services? And why are just seven languages offered protection from this so-called ‘national origin discrimination’? There are 329 languages spoken in this country. Is it OK to ‘discriminate’ against 322 of them? Is there a Constitutional right to government services in Swahili? If not, why not? After all, discrimination is against individuals, not just favored groups. And since private businesses can’t discriminate any more than government can, don’t they have the same obligation? The implications of these questions lead to absurdity, but they underline just how bizarre the Court’s decision is."

U.S.ENGLISH is the nation’s oldest, largest citizens’ action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa, U.S.ENGLISH now has more than 1.4 million members nationwide.