Thread: AZ. Court says woman with limited English can be kept off ballot (updated)

Court says woman with limited English can be kept off ballot

By Mary Slosson | Reuters – 4 mins ago...

(Reuters) - Arizona's Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a city council candidate with limited English language skills can be kept off the ballot in a largely bilingual town on the Mexico border.

A Yuma County Superior Court judge touched off a furor last week when he disqualified Alejandrina Cabrera, 35, from running for city council in the town of San Luis over what he called a "large gap" between her English proficiency and that required to serve as a public official.

In a brief two-page ruling, the Arizona Supreme Court did not give a reason why it sided with the lower court, but said a written decision would follow "in due course."

The controversy has swept San Luis, a sleepy farming town hugging the Arizona-Mexico border, into the incendiary national debate over immigration.

Immigrant rights activists called such language-based restrictions hostile to immigrants, potentially driving a wedge between Latino communities and the rest of American society.

Proponents of enforcing English as the sole language of state government said that the country needs a common tongue to promote national unity. They cite the immigration and assimilation by generations of new Americans.

"In the narrow matter of law, obviously we were right," said Glenn Gimbut, city attorney for San Luis, which brought the suit against her. "But as this has steered into broader political debate, that one is above my pay grade."

San Luis, with a population of roughly 25,000 people, is about 200 miles southwest of Phoenix and lies just over a steel border fence from San Luis Rio Colorado, in Mexico's northern Sonora state, with a population of roughly 200,000.

The two municipalities are considered by many residents as one and the same community.

Cabrera, a U.S. citizen born in Yuma, Arizona, was not immediately available for comment but was expected to issue a statement later on Tuesday, according to Brandon Kinsey, one of her lawyers.

Though Cabrera was born in Yuma, she moved to Mexico when she was young and spent much of her childhood there. She returned to Arizona for the last three years of high school, eventually graduating from Yuma's public Kofa High School.

It was in high school that she met the current town mayor, Juan Carlos Escamilla, who went on to file the lawsuit claiming she has insufficient command of the English language to hold elected office.

Cabrera told Reuters in an interview conducted in English last week that Escamilla is "the Joe Arpaio of San Luis, Arizona," referring to the tough-talking sheriff of Maricopa County who has taken a tough stand against illegal immigration.

Cabrera admitted in the interview with Reuters that she is not completely proficient in English but said she can read it, understand and respond. During the interview she spoke with intensity and passion, but sometimes in the wrong tense, or with the order of words scrambled.

The debate comes as several U.S. states have adopted laws cracking down on illegal immigrants.

Alabama passed a measure considered the nation's toughest in June of 2011 which requires police to detain people they suspect of being in the United States illegally.

Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah have also passed immigration crackdowns since Arizona blazed the trail in 2010 with a law that required police to check the status of all those they arrested and suspected of being in the country illegally. That measure has since been blocked by a court, while at least part of others measures remain in place.

The San Luis City Clerk told Reuters on Tuesday that the printing of ballots for the March 13 primary election was being held until the court decision was announced.

Court says woman with limited English can be kept off ballot - Yahoo! News

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http://www.alipac.us/f12/judge-order...didate-248273/

One for the True Americans! "English has always been the main language and we should make it Federal Law and all this Spanish and other 15,000 pages you get when you buy something will save billions. Especially in Governmental bureaucratic paperwork!

AZ Supreme Court affirms ruling that bars candidate from running due to English proficiency

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, February 7, 4:23 PM

PHOENIX — The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed a ruling that barred a woman from running for a city council seat because she doesn’t speak English proficiently.

The state’s highest court ruled that Alejandrina Cabrera’s name shouldn’t appear on the March 13 election ballot in San Luis but didn’t list a reason for the decision. A full written ruling is expected at a later date, according to an Arizona Supreme Court spokeswoman.

The case brought widespread attention to the southern Arizona border city after Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla filed a court action asking for a determination of whether Cabrera has the English skills necessary to serve a four-year term.

State law requires elected officials to know English, but Cabrera’s attorneys claimed the law doesn’t define proficiency in the language.

John Minore, an attorney for Cabrera, said his office is looking at ways to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Cabrera’s lawyers previously said the action against their client was politically motivated because of her efforts to recall Escamilla. Cabrera began circulating petitions to recall the mayor in April after the council hiked utility rates and approved the layoffs of 12 city employees as part of spending cuts.

Cabrera previously told the Yuma Sun that she needs to improve her command of English but insisted her language skills are adequate for serving the border city where Spanish is used as often as English. She also said she will keep campaigning.

Yuma County Superior Court Judge John Nelson ruled on Jan. 27 to strike Cabrera’s name from the ballot. Her attorneys appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court three days later and asked for an expedited ruing because of a deadline for printing the election ballots.

Cabrera, who last year launched two unsuccessful attempts to recall Escamilla as mayor, was one of 10 candidates who filed petitions to run for the council.

Nelson’s ruling was based on tests administered by a sociolinguistics expert, as well as Cabrera’s inability to respond to questions posed to her in English at a hearing.

The action against Cabrera also stemmed from a Dec. 14 complaint made by former mayor Guillermina Fuentes that Cabrera isn’t fluent in English, according to The Sun.

Fuentes claimed she has acted as an interpreter for Cabrera.

Sociolinguistics expert William Eggington presented the court with results of three different tests he administered to Cabrera, who graduated from Kofa High School in Yuma. One measured her English-speaking skill, another was to determine if she reads the language, and the third was to assess her level of English comprehension.

Eggington’s report said Cabrera’s English skills did not meet the level of language proficiency needed to serve on the council.

AZ Supreme Court affirms ruling that bars candidate from running due to English proficiency - The Washington Post

Now the state of AZ has to reprint all those espanoil ballots at AZ taxpayer $$$$$$$

Interestingly she graduated high school here in the United States. How did she pass high school English, which is required for graduation?

Updated Aug 17, 2012 - 12:40 pm
Arizona law on officials' English proficiency upheld
Comments (1)
By Associated Press
Originally published: Aug 17, 2012 - 8:41 am

PHOENIX -- An Arizona law requiring public officials to be able to comprehend and use the English language is constitutional, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday as it explained why a woman was barred from running for a city council seat.

The justices issued their unanimous opinion six months after upholding a trial judge's ruling that Alejandrina Cabrera wasn't sufficiently proficient in English to serve as a city council member in San Luis, a mostly Spanish-speaking border town in southwestern Arizona.

In challenging Cabrera's candidacy, San Luis' mayor cited a 1913 Arizona state law that says anyone "who is unable to speak, write and read the English language is not eligible" to hold public office.

Both the Arizona Constitution and the 1910 federal law that created the state in 1912 require that state and local government officials be able to read, speak, write and understand English, the opinion noted.

The requirement "manifests a legitimate concern that those who hold elective office be minimally proficient in English in order to conduct the duties of their office, without the aid of an interpreter," Justice Robert Brutinel wrote for the court. "Such a requirement helps ensure that the public officer will in fact be able to understand and perform the functions of the office, including communication with English-speaking constituents and the public."

Saying previous rulings already allowed states to set qualifications for public offices, the justices rejected Cabrera's argument that Arizona's law denies her constitutional right to participate in government.

A Yuma County Superior Court judge questioned Cabrera in court and had a linguistics expert interview her before ordering that Cabrera be removed from the ballot.

Cabrera said her English was good enough in San Luis because of the prevalence of Spanish-speakers. She also said racism was involved.

Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla has denied racism was an issue. He said English must be used in meetings with state and federal officials.

Arizona law on officials' English proficiency upheld - Phoenix News - KTAR.com

ADDED Updated Aug 17 AP ARTICLE TO ALIPAC Homepage News with amended title ..


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