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Court Upholds Utah English Initiative Confounding observers, a Utah state court judge reversed an earlier decision and upheld the state's declaration of English as its official language. The reversal came after a last-minute filing of extensive legal arguments by ProEnglish, a national organization which concentrates on legal actions to protect English. Shaken by the legal defeat, opponents vowed to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court. Utahns voted 2-1 in favor of last November's initiative, making Utah the 25th state to declare English its official language. A group of local politicians and government employees, led by the Mayor of Salt Lake City, Rocky Anderson, immediately sued to block the new law from taking effect. Utah Judge Ronald Nehring first granted an injunction, and then extensively criticized the initiative language during a two-day trial. The Governor and Attorney General of Utah refused to defend the initiative during the trial. The initiative's proponents, Utahns for Official English, defended the initiative. Judge Nehring was publicly uncomfortable with the initiative and the defense during the trial. Following the trial, Nehring looked for further briefing from ProEnglish. In response, ProEnglish brought in the same legal team which had successfully defended Arizona's Official English law at the U.S. Supreme Court, headed by ELPAC Chairman Barnaby Zall. The ProEnglish legal papers stressed the common-sense interpretation of the initiative and the strong rights of the voters to choose the language of government. Judge Nehring agreed with the ProEnglish argument, and upheld the initiative. |
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The
ELPAC Report 