Arizona Supreme Court: Public Office Requires English Proficiency

Scotty Starnes posted: "[caption id="attachment_30180" align="aligncenter" width="262"] LEARN & SPEAK ENGLISH...like everyone else[/caption] Now if we can just make this clear to the DMV, public schools and social service departments, everyone will speak ENGLISH. From " Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Scotty Starnes's Blog Arizona Supreme Court: Public Office Requires English Proficiency by Scotty Starnes LEARN & SPEAK ENGLISH...like everyone else Now if we can just make this clear to the DMV, public schools and social service departments, everyone will speak ENGLISH. From WSJ: The Arizona Supreme Court on Fridayupheld a state law that requires elected officials to be able to read, write and speak the English language. The state's top court, in affirming a lower court's ruling, said the long-standing language 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." The court rejected an argument that a lower court's interpretation of the law violates the right to participate in government, with the high court holding that there is no constitutional right to seek office. The state law requiring English proficiency as a qualification for public office has existed since before statehood, the opinion said. "Such a requirement helps ensure that the public officer will in fact be able to understand and  perform the functions of the  office, including communications with English-speaking constituents and the public," Justice Robert Brutinel wrote in the opinion. The case came about when the mayor of the city of San Luis sought to disqualify a candidate for city council on the grounds that she could not read, write and speak the English language as required by the law. The lower court conducted a hearing and decided to preclude her from the ballot. The candidate contended that she met the state's requirements and appealed to the state supreme court. Were the appeals in English? The Supreme Court, in its opinion, noted that the candidate was  "not forever barred from running for office." "Should she obtain a sufficient English proficiency to perform as a city councilmember, she could then run for that office," the opinion said. Continue reading>>> Scotty Starnes | August 18, 2012 at 3:23 PM | Tags: Arizona Supreme Court, English, English proficiency | Categories: Political Issues | URL: http://wp.me/pvnFC-7QL Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe or change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://scottystarnes.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/arizona-supreme-court-public-office-requires-english-proficiency/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

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