Court rejects lawsuit over bilingual driver info

By ANDREW DeMILLO
Thursday, April 16, 2009 3:46 PM CDT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The state's highest court on Thursday rejected a lawsuit by an anti-illegal immigration activist targeting the Arkansas State Police for printing driver's license instructional materials and exams in Spanish.

Justices said a Sebastian County judge was right to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Joe McCutchen of Fort Smith, who had filed an illegal-exaction claim against police. McCutchen claimed it was against the law to spend public dollars on the Spanish-language materials.

Justices agreed with the lower court that the proper venue for McCutchen's lawsuit was Pulaski County and that he didn't state a claim for which relief could be granted under state law.

McCutchen had argued that Sebastian County was the proper venue, calling State Police "unquestionably a business enterprise" even though it is a government agency.

McCutchen declined to comment on the court's ruling, but said he had sued State Police because he believed they were encouraging illegal immigration by printing the Spanish-language materials.

"They're exacerbating the illegal entry into our state and increasing the magnitude of this thing," McCutchen said.

McCutchen, who has campaigned for tighter immigration restrictions around the country, lobbied in 2005 for legislation before Arkansas lawmakers that would have denied welfare and voting rights to illegal immigrants. McCutchen has in the past referred to Hispanic immigration into Arkansas as a "Mexican invasion."

In briefs filed with the court, the state attorney general's office disputed McCutchen's argument that the Spansih-language materials violated state law. McCutchen claimed in his lawsuit the state had paid several thousand dollars for the materials in 2007, but did not provide a specific amount.

"The requirement that applicants for driver's licenses in Arkansas must demonstrate an ability to understand the traffic laws of the state of Arkansas simply does not address the issue of instructional materials or examinations, and certainly does not prohibit the state police from offering such instructional materials and examinations in addition to English," the state said in its brief.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)
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