(State Supreme) Court: Arizona can bar candidates over English proficiency

[Newsjock]

Source: Arizona Daily Star

Candidates who are not proficient in English can be barred from seeking public office, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled today.

In a decision with statewide implications, the justices said state lawmakers approved the requirement to ensure that elected officials can conduct the duties of their office without the aid of an interpreter.

"Such a requirement helps ensure the public officer will in fact be able to understand and perform the functions of the office, including communicating with English-speaking constituents and the public,'' Justice Robert Brutinel wrote for the unanimous court.

... "There is no constitutional right to seek office," he wrote. "And the language requirement reflects a legitimate concern of the Arizona Legislature."

Read more: http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/court-arizona-can-bar-candidates-over-english-proficiency/article_2d1d7b4a-e892-11e1-a93b-001a4bcf887a.html

[Xipe Totec]

1. Because elections are too important to depend on the voters nt

[livetohike]

2. Then Jan Brewer should step down n/t

[bluestateguy]

3. Not speaking English is a good reason to not vote for someone

But it sets a bad precedent to say that the law must ban that person from even being allowed to run.

[pscot]

5. States have a lot of leeway

to regulate local elections under the Constitution. This will go to the Supremes.i

[alp227]

25. And English is the official language of AZ per Proposition 103 (2006).

Passed by 74% of voters (http://www.azsos.gov/results/2006/general/BM103.htm). Thus, doesn't the state have the right to apply Prop. 103 in election eligibility law?

[Politicalboi]

4. We need tests alright

But not for English. If you are as dumb as Bush, Palin or Bachmann, you should NEVER be able to hold ANY office. Like running for VP and not knowing what that job is. That is outrageous to me. The fact that she didn't even take the time to read up on it says everything we need to know about her, she's an idiot.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

6. Arizona used to be part of Mexico

so Spanish should be used too

[former9thward]

11. Should Dutch be used in New York?

Russian in Alaska?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

18. Don't see why not!

English and Russian might come in handy in Alaska

[CreekDog]

20. Spanish could be...and Canada has done well bilingual

Germany requires 6 years of a foreign language, they seem to have done better encouraging other languages among their people.

[alp227]

22. And Switzerland is doing fine with French, German, AND Italian all recognized!

[Missycim]

30. I am all for

mandatory classes in HS for Spanish or other languages(student choice). Since english is the predominant language here, everyone should have a decent amount of knowledge in it.

[former9thward]

35. Germany and many counties require another language --mostly English

because it is the language of commerce worldwide. To require a language just because hundreds of years ago some other country occupied the area is ridiculous.

[kestrel91316]

7. Good. Now the semi-literate teabagger types can't run.

[NV Whino]

8. Well, that eliminates at least half the Republicans

[SoapBox]

9. And are these Americans that don't speak "proficient" English?

Isn't this some sort of discrimination? Again?

Why is all this shit allowed against American citizens, in their own country?

And exactly who is setting this proficiency "standard"?

It's like a company I worked for...wanted Spanish "speakers"...but the testers were "proficient" in
Castilian Spanish (ya know, Spain spanish)...didn't work too well when the company's speakers were
in Mexico all the time. The Mexicans couldn't understand them! Hilarious. Needless to say...the program
finally got modified, although it took years.

[slackmaster]

10. I would never vote for anyone who isn't proficient in English even if it was his or her only...

...language.

[CreekDog]

21. Ir doesn't matter if they don't learn because their children will

In fact if they dont learn, their kids will be bilingual.

[JusticeForAll]

27. So a law is needed to prevent yourself and others from ever voting for that person?

[slackmaster]

31. I didn't say anything about a LAW being needed

RIF

[elbloggoZY27]

12. The Ugly Truth

When the then Candidate Mr Obama became the front runner for the Democrats I predicted that if he became President there would be a huge and ugly backlash. Unfortunately, seeing the real ugliness in Washington my prediction was sadly true.

I am truly appalled at the divisiveness here in the United States in 2012 and I believe we are near the abyss on the timing to have what is happening with what has been called the Arab Spring.

This election is between those who have and those who need. A small group of elected in our Congress and Senate have sabotaged or blocked any Bill that is Progressive or proposed by President Obama and replaced with no other viable option. That is why the GOP is the Party of No.

Had Mrs.Clinton been the Presidential nominee and I am being quite honest we would not be in this pot of ugliness.

"WE THE PEOPLE" need to stand up and stop the GOP in their tracks and not allow them to steal another election.

We are a melting pot of humanity made up of many cultures and religions. We are not a singular society and have the right to live our lives as we choose.

When I was in the Navy we were one and defended the Constitution of the United States from all enemies Domestic & Foreign. We raised our hands to take that oath. Some of our leaders have forgotten that so we need to remind them that we the Citizens will not tolerate one Party with one Negative idea to win. It was not what our Founders so many years ago wanted, not then or not now in 2012.

[DonCoquixote]

26. really?

"Had Mrs.Clinton been the Presidential nominee and I am being quite honest we would not be in this pot of ugliness. "

Do you really think they would not be trying to exploit her, trying to push her to be hard on brown people? You think they would not attack her as a woman as well?

[iamthebandfanman]

13. Or you could just let people vote

their opinion of the candidate that doesnt speak english.
stupid democracy!

god, these whackjobs are truely afraid of immigrants.

[noiretextatique]

14. great...george bush could never run for office in Arizona

but i'm sure this applies only to non-whites.

[Iliyah]

15. Well Kissinger (sp?) would never be in an official officer huh.

AZ was the last state re: football, enough said.

[drm604]

16. Define proficiency. How is it determined, and who determines it?

Is there an objective test or is this one of those "I know it when I see it" things?

Can the current majority party bar an opponent over imperfect syntax or an accent?

This really seems like something that should be decided by the voters on a case by case basis.

[alp227]

23. Arizona passed a ballot initiative in 2006 making English the official language of the state.

See this Arizona Daily Star story "http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/politics/154979.php" target="_blank">Anti-illegal immigrant propositions pass handily": "Proposition 103 establishes English as the state's official language, 18 years after voters passed a similar proposition in 1988 that was later overruled by the Arizona and U.S. Supreme Courts." (See also Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona.)

Thus, because Arizona law requires state business to be conducted in English, I think the state has a legal basis for requiring proficiency.

[drm604]

29. Just because they did it doesn't mean they should have,

and it doesn't answer my questions about how proficiency is defined and who determines whether or not a candidate is proficient.

When a potential candidate files to be on the ballot, who evaluates their proficiency? Some county clerk? Some board? How do they do it?

[Hugin]

28. Which English is English?

There are dozens recognized in the US alone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dialects_of_the_English_language

[surrealAmerican]

17. If "communicating with constituents" without the use ...

... of an interpreter is an issue, why would this not work both ways. If you were representing a district with a large non-english speaking population, would you be barred from seeking office if you did not speak their language fluently?

[alp227]

24. I think those voters would just reject that candidate who didn't understand their language/culture.

[Dustlawyer]

19. This is being used just like the "literacy tests" use to prevent people of color from voting.

[primavera]

32. "No constitutional right to seek office"

Hmm, I wonder if I agree with that. I mean, shouldn't Americans be allowed to vote for the candidate they choose? And if you're dealing with an ethnic population that is legally entitled to vote and they want to vote for someone who shares their language and cultural heritage, what basis is there to deny them that right? Okay, so such a representative probably won't be terribly effective if they are unable to communicate with the majority of other representatives who speak a different language, but, still, that's a practical hindrance, is there a reason why it needs to be a legal bar? My understanding from con law is that legal distinctions based upon race and/or ethnicity are automatically considered suspect and the state is consequently subject to the highest level of scrutiny to demonstrate that they indeed have a compelling interest that justifies the action. Where's the compelling interest on the part of the state here? That xenophobic legislators might hear Spanish being spoken in the state legislature? That doesn't sound very compelling to me. It sounds to me like the court is putting the cart before the horse on this one: they're coming up with reasons why non-English speakers aren't guaranteed a right to run for office, but aren't requiring the state to meet its burden of proving why they're entitled to discriminate based upon language.

[still_one]

33. Does arizona have anything better to do then produce worthless legislation. What a screwed up state

[Hugin]

34. Loud and clear there, boys. The Hearing or Speech Impaired need not apply in AZ.

Dumbasses... Always, will they fall afoul of The Law of Unintended Consequences.