Alaska ACLU Files Suit Against State's English-Only Initiative

ACLU of Northern California Supports Important Language Rights Case
For Immediate Release: February 16, 1999

On Monday, February 15, the Alaska Civil Liberties Union and others filed a lawsuit challenging the state's newly adopted English-only initiative. The suit, Alakayak, et al. v. State of Alaska, was filed in Superior Court in Anchorage on behalf of two dozen plaintiffs whose constitutional rights will be violated if the English-only initiative goes into effect.

"The Alaska initiative, like the Arizona English-only law struck down by the Arizona Supreme Court last year, violates the free speech and equal protection rights of public officials and employees as well as members of the public who are unable to communicate effectively with their government in English," said Ed Chen, co-director of the Language Rights Project of the ACLU Foundation of Northern California and the Employment Law Center, which is supporting the suit. "The impact is especially hard on Native Alaskan communities where the primary language is not English." ìThe initiative is worded so broadly that it covers oral communication as well as written documents." said Jennifer Rudinger, the Executive Director of the ACLU, who filed the suit with the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and the North Slope Borough (NSB) ìIn most situations, Alaskans will be prohibited from communicating with government workers in any language other than English, even if the government worker happens to know other languages."

The suit's plaintiffs include:

• Benjamin Nageak, Mayor of the North Slope Borough;
• Spanish-speakers, Yup'ik-speakers and Inupiaq speakers from all across Alaska;
• teachers and other employees of Alaska public school who need to communicate with students and their parents in languages other than English;
• parents who need to be able to communicate with school teachers and administrators about their children in languages other than English;
• public officials who need to be able to conduct local government business in Native languages as well as in English; and
• citizens who are not proficient in English who need to be be able to communicate with government workers who happen to know other languages.

The initiative, passed by the voters in November,1988,declares English the state's "official language" and mandates that English "be used by all public agencies in all government functions and actions," including "the preparation of all official public documents and records." The English-only mandate applies broadly to the legislative and executive branches of state government as well as all political subdivisions, local governments, and all government officials and employees. It contains a list of exemptions for certain vaguely defined purposes such as action necessary to protect public health and safety. Its wording is similar to a 1988 Arizona initiative which was declared unconstitutional by Arizona's Supreme Court last year in Ruiz v. Arizona.

In January, the US Supreme Court case refused review of the state Supreme Court's decision in Ruiz. The Arizona initiative would have required all state agencies to ìact in English and in no other language." The state's high court held that by prohibiting public employees and officials from using non-English languages in the performance of their duties, the amendment unduly burdened the employees' First Amendment rights as well as the rights of those they served. The Court observed that the initiatives adverse impact fell almost entirely on Latinos and other national origin minorities. The ACLU-NC, along with the National ACLU and others, filed an amicus brief in Ruiz.

In another related case filed by the ACLU-NC and the Southern Poverty Law Center in 1997, Sandoval v. Hagan, an Alabama federal district court found that Alabama's policy of discontinuing drivers license examinations in languages other than English violated federal civil rights law.

The Language Rights Project helps combat language-based discrimination in the workplace, in businesses, and in government services. The Language Rights Hotline (1-800-864-1664) offers free multi-lingual telephone advice and referrals in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese to workers who have been subject to discrimination based on their language or accent.