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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 1999
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Contact:
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Tim Schultz
800/787-8216
202/833-0100
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U.S.ENGLISH CHAIRMAN UNFAZED BY OFFICIAL ENGLISH DECISION
Supreme Court's Action Only Affects Arizona
The refusal by the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case involving Arizona's official English law will have very little effect on the official English movement, according to Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of the Board/CEO of U.S.ENGLISH.
"We anticipated this result," said Mr. Mujica. "We knew that the U.S. Supreme Court was unlikely to overrule the Arizona courts on an interpretation of Arizona law. But Arizona was a special case-the Arizona courts interpreted the law as being much more restrictive than laws in other states. The Supreme Court's action will have no effect on the official English laws in other states."
When Arizona's State Supreme Court struck down the official language amendment to the state constitution in April, the court pointed to more narrowly crafted official English laws such as those in Montana and Wyoming, saying that if Arizona's law had contained similar exceptions, "it might well have passed constitutional muster."
Mr. Mujica continued, "In the ten years since the Arizona law was passed, we have gained much experience in drafting laws that make English the official language of government while still protecting everyone's constitutional rights. The laws we passed in Montana in 1995 and Wyoming 1996, as well as our current bill in Utah, show that it is possible to protect English as our common language in a constitutional way. We will now go back to Arizona and apply the lessons we have learned in other states to overcome the Arizona courts' objections and make English Arizona's official language.
U.S.ENGLISH is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting English as the common language of the United States. The group was founded in 1983 by the late Senator S.I. Hayakawa of California, and now has over 1.3 million members nationwide.
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