Thread: Federal appeals court rules English-only petitions legal

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryn ... 558230.htm

Posted on Tue, Sep. 19, 2006

Federal appeals court rules English-only petitions legal

ANA BEATRIZ CHOLO
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Circulating recall petitions in languages other than English is not necessary, a federal appeals court ruled in a local school board case Tuesday.

The 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an earlier decision by a three-judge panel that found the petitions must be translated into other languages.

"The expense and trouble of fulfilling the translation requirements are likely to deter proponents who otherwise would launch petitions," the opinion stated.

A lawsuit challenging the legality of a 2003 election that resulted in the recall of Santa Ana Unified School District trustee Native Lopez was filed by plaintiffs who claimed they mistakenly signed an English-language petition.

The plaintiffs, represented by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, argued that the federal Voting Rights Act requires that election materials be printed in languages other than English if more than 5 percent of a region's voters speak another language.

But the appeals court found that the law, which covers ballots and other government-produced election materials, cannot be applied to petitions that are circulated and paid for by private citizens.

The court noted that if translation were required in Orange County, recall petitions would have to be printed in Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese. Rather than promote, that would prevent individuals from participating in the electoral process, according to the court's opinion.

"A requirement of translation for recall petitions is far more likely to be used as a sword than a shield, as in the case of the plaintiffs here, who brought their suit to stop an election for which sufficient signatures had been collected," the court ruled.

MALDEF attorney Nina Perales said the court took an overly restrictive stance on the issue of language minority provisions in the law.

"As a result, language minority voters are not going to be able to participate in that part of the political process where the petition is circulated and the voters really decide what is going to go on the ballot," she said.

One of the attorneys for the school district praised the ruling.

"Our role on behalf of the school district was to discourage the court from ordering another recall election, so we are of course satisfied from that point of view," said attorney Bill Shaeffer. "The district achieved its purpose. They wanted to make sure they did not go through the expense of another recall election."

These people are not stupid. They have studied our laws and know what they are doing. This statement only backs up that they are changing the demographics to change the laws of our country!!!!!! They just admitted it by this statement as far as I am concerned!

"The plaintiffs, represented by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, argued that the federal Voting Rights Act requires that election materials be printed in languages other than English if more than 5 percent of a region's voters speak another language."

These people are not stupid. They have studied out laws and know what they are doing.

Be that as it may, it's good to see that (at least in this case) the federal courts weren't stupid either.

Another attempt backfired! Nice. Love the message they sent too: Learn English!

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/polit ... california

Ruling Against Santa Ana's English-Only Recall Petitions Is Reversed
Requiring multiple-language forms would discourage citizens from launching such efforts, a federal appeals court says.
By H.G. Reza
Times Staff Writer

September 20, 2006

Recall petitions need to be printed only in English, even when some voters are not proficient in the language, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The federal Voting Rights Act requires ballots and other government-produced election material to be published in other languages if more than 5% of the voters speak a different language.

But in a case involving the Santa Ana Unified School District, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the requirement did not apply to recall petitions written and circulated by citizens.

The court reversed a decision last year by a 9th Circuit panel that said petitions to recall Santa Ana school board Trustee Nativo V. Lopez in 2003 should have been printed in Spanish as well as English. Lopez was recalled by a large margin.

The judges also said that translating recall petitions into different languages in a place such as Orange County, which has a large and diverse population, would be costly and have a "chilling effect on the petition process."

Judge Stephen Reinhardt concurred with the majority opinion written by Judge William C. Canby Jr. but said Congress should change the law to include recall petitions under the Voting Rights Act.

In a sharply worded dissent, Judge Harry Pregerson wrote, "English-only petitions would perpetuate the very injustice the Voting Rights Act seeks to eliminate" and said the majority interpreted the law too narrowly.

Attorneys for the Orange County registrar of voters, a defendant in the case, asked the entire panel of 9th Circuit judges to review the three-judge ruling, and the court agreed. The judges noted that the initial legal action to block the election was moot, but said there was a "reasonable expectation" that English-only recall petitions would be an issue in the future.

The case was first filed in 2003 by three Latino residents of Santa Ana who contended their civil rights were violated when they mistakenly signed the recall petition that had no Spanish translation. The plaintiffs had sued under the Voting Rights Act to stop the election but were rebuffed by a federal judge.

Nina Perales, southwest regional counsel for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said she was disappointed by the decision.

"It's too restrictive, in light of the Voting Rights Act purpose to make the political process accessible to language minorities," she said.


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hgreza@latimes.com

The 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an earlier decision by a three-judge panel that found the petitions must be translated into other languages.

Good news and important news !! These judges "get it" !!

United we stand, divided we fall.

It's about time the "9th Circuit Court of Repeals" got something right.

Originally Posted by NoMoreIllegals

It's about time the "9th Circuit Court of Repeals" got something right.

I'll second that.

And this is Lost Angeles too! Imagine that.