Thread: High court refuses to hear appeal in Bogota mayor's language

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High court refuses to hear appeal in Bogota mayor's language fight
Thursday, September 28, 2006
BY DEBORAH HOWLETT
Star-Ledger Staff
A nonbinding resolution to make English the official language in the borough of Bogota will not be on the November ballot, after the state Supreme Court refused to intervene in the matter.

Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, who had proposed the ordinance, criticized the justices yesterday for refusing to allow voters to consider the measure: "The court has taken political correctness to new levels," Lonegan said.

Without comment, the high court declined Monday to hear an appeal of lower court decisions that barred the borough from voting on an English Empowerment Ordinance.

Lonegan had proposed the ballot measure following a dust-up over a McDonald's billboard written in Spanish. The restaurant chain refused Lonegan's demand to replace the Spanish ad with English.

While the English-only ordinance as proposed would not have applied to the billboard, it would have required all borough business be conducted and written in English, unless federal or state law requires otherwise.

Some saw the ballot measure as anti-immigrant, but Lonegan argued that approval would ensure that English would unify the Bergen County town of about 8,250.

According to the 2000 Census, 21 percent of Bogota's residents are of Hispanic heritage, up from 10 percent in 1990. Whites, who can include Hispanics, were the largest ethnic group in 2000, accounting for 76 percent of residents.

Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan challenged the English-only ballot question in a lawsuit, relying on a legal opinion from county lawyer John Carbone, who said Bogota would be violating the U.S. Constitution by making English its official language. He said the authority to declare English an official language rests with either the state or federal government.

Lonegan dismissed that argument as "ridiculous."

However, a Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Donovan's lawsuit, and its decision was upheld by an appellate court before Lonegan went to the Supreme Court.


Deborah Howlett covers politics. She may be reached at (609) 989-0273 or dhowlett@starledger.com.

http://www.northjersey.com

Bogota aprende las barreras del ingles
Wednesday, September 27, 2006

By BRIAN ABERBACK
STAFF WRITER


Translation: Bogota learns limits of English; Supreme Court denies appeal to make language official

BOGOTA -- The effort to ask voters if English should be the town's official language is dead.

The New Jersey Supreme Court bid adiós to the matter on Monday, refusing to hear Bogota's appeal of lower-court decisions that rejected placing a non-binding ballot question on the November ballot.

Mayor Steve Lonegan, who proposed the ballot question, said he was "amazed" at the decision and denounced it as an assault on the right to vote.

"Whenever voters are being told that that they cannot vote on an issue that has such an impact on our culture, it's an all-out attack on our American values," Lonegan declared Tuesday. "This is tragic."

Last month, Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan refused to put the question on the ballot. She said Bogota had no power to make English its official language because state and federal law already set precedent for language requirements in municipalities.

Under state law, ballot questions may address only issues that a town has the power to act upon. A state Superior Court judge and a three-judge appellate court panel upheld Donovan's decision.

John Carbone, the lawyer for the clerk's office, declined to comment Tuesday.

Those who objected to the ballot question saw the initiative's failure in a polar opposite light from Lonegan.

"I think this is a victory for freedom of speech and the First Amendment," Councilman George Silos said. "The English issue was a distraction from the real issues in town."

The proposed English Empowerment Ordinance would require all borough business to be conducted in English unless otherwise mandated by state or federal law. Twenty-seven states and at least two towns, in Florida and Missouri, have passed English-language laws.

The borough could pass the ordinance without polling residents' opinions but appeared disinclined to do so. Borough Council President George Shalhoub said Tuesday that he would not want to enact the ordinance without a referendum.

Lonegan said he proposed the ordinance to preserve English as the language that binds the diverse borough together.

Of Bogota's 8,249 residents, 21 percent are Hispanic, according to the 2000 census. Bogota had the fifth-largest percentage of Hispanics per total population in Bergen County, the census found.

Critics said the mayor was dividing the town by playing on fears about immigrants.

The English-language ordinance heightened tension that began this summer when Lonegan demanded that McDonald's remove a Spanish-language billboard in town and replace it with an English version.

Lonegan said the advertisement was divisive because it sent a message that it was not necessary for immigrants to learn to speak English or assimilate into the community. McDonald's refused to remove the billboard.

Hmmm, McDonalds sound like an excellent future candidate for a boycott.

Heck, in my town it has gotten to where I can't understand the McDonalds employees anyway. English is not their first language. On two of the last three trips I've made to a McDonalds, I've had to request the managers assistance at the drive-through.

I'm not saying these employees are illegal immigrants, but they certainly have a problem speaking the English language. Obviously customer service is not one of McDonalds finer qualities, at least not in my area.

They'll probably eventually change the name to Raul Mc Diaz I never eat that slop to begin with so the boycott is been on for me for years.

We sure are out numbered here in Jersey as far as illegals. But I'm not giving up the fight!!!

Found something interesting:

Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, and Nebraska all have English as the official language by way of constitutional amendment by voter initiative.

Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming all have English as the official language by way of statute.

Utah has English as the official language by way of initiative statute.

Hawaii's officially bilingual ... English and Native Hawaiian

Oakland, CA is officially bilingual. Although the way it's worded it could actually mean English and really any other language if it meets the requirements. They define "bilingual employee" as a person proficient in English and a language other than English that is spoken by not less than 10,000 Limited English Speaking Persons who are Oakland residents.

"Limited English" defined as “Limited English Speaking Person” shall mean an individual who does not speak English well or is otherwise unable to communicate effectively in English because English is not the individual’s primary language.

I bring this all up because I found it odd that Donovan said Bogota had no power to make English the official language and denied voters their constitutional rights at the same time.

And even if language was only part iof the initiative, look around Donovan, towns are pushing these things through because they obviously DO have the power to do so.

http://www.blogs.nj.com/default.asp?item=195608

Court explains ruling striking ballot question on English
Posted by The Star-Ledger October 2, 2006 18:55


If Bogota can declare its official language is English then another municipality can say it is Spanish, and neither has that power, a state appeals court said today.

The nine-page decision by a three-judge appeals court explained the reasoning behind its Sept. 22 order preventing the Borough of Bogota from asking voters if English should be its official language. Last week, the state Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from that ruling.

"If we were to conclude that Bogota could adopt English as its official language, logic would require that another municipality in the state could pass a similar ordinance adopting another language as its official language," Appellate Division Judge Dorothea Wefing wrote.

"If one municipality were to adopt English as its official language, while another adopted Spanish and yet another Japanese, the wheels of government could come to a halt," Wefing added. "In our judgment, passage of such an ordinance is not within the powers of a municipality."

Wefing noted that according to the 2000 census, nine municipalities in New Jersey have a population that is more than 50 percent Hispanic.

The ruling is online.

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/a0601-06.pdf


Contributed by Robert Schwaneberg