ELPAC Report June 2002

The ELPAC Report June 2002

Courts Attack Official English

Just days apart, state court judges in Alaska and Oklahoma attacked initiatives to declare English the official language. In both cases, the decisions claimed that official English violated free speech rights of persons who want to use languages other than English in dealing with state government. In Colorado, meanwhile, the Supreme Court threw a technical roadblock in the way of an initiative to reform bilingual education.

On March 22, Alaska Superior Court Judge Fred Torrisi ruled the state's official-English initiative, passed overwhelmingly by voters in 1998, violates the free speech rights guaranteed in the Alaska constitution. Torrisi said arguments made by Alaska natives seeking to overturn the law confirmed "what the philosophers tell us: language is the beginning, it is part of who we are. Beyond defining our ethnicity, it organizes our minds." Supporters of the initiative, which passed with 70% of the vote, plan an appeal, saying that they expected the local judge to support the Alaska natives' argument at the trial court level.

Then, on April 2, the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck a proposed official English initiative from the ballot, saying that it would infringe First Amendment speech rights. The court criticized the initiative language as confusing and vague. Proponents of the initiative, apparently represented by Washington lawyers, didn't even submit a brief in support of their own proposal.

"This is just a debacle," said ELPAC Executive Director Steve Workings. "Surely this could have been done in a more effective way, at least so we won't have this bad decision on the books."

Finally, on April 9, the Colorado Supreme Court blocked bilingual education reformer Ron Unz from placing a citizen initiative on the November ballot until the summary shown to voters is "clarified" to explain that parents who want their children to receive bilingual education can apply for a waiver of requirements that their child be taught in English. Proponents are rewriting the voter summary and hope to still qualify the initiative in time for the November elections.