Utah ACLU Drops Appeal Of Official English Law Ruling

WASHINGTON, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union Utah chapter dropped its appeal to a ruling which upheld Utah's official English law, admitting in a news article, "there is very little possibility that someone will try to use the statute to discriminate against those with limited English proficiency."

"This is a victory not just for the 67 percent of Utahns who voted in favor of Utah's official English law, but for democracy," said U.S.ENGLISH Chairman/CEO Mauro E. Mujica. "Finally, the will of the people will not be overshadowed by the ACLU's frivolous court actions regarding the constitutionality of Utah's official English law."

Last November, 67 percent of Utah voters approved Initiative A - - Utah's official English law. The ACLU challenged the constitutionality of the measure, but lost in court. On March 5, 2001, Utah's Third Judicial District Court affirmed the constitutionality of Initiative A, and recognized that it respects the fundamental rights of all Utahns. The initiative does not infringe on anyone's heritage, or their rights to speak other languages. Instead, this law states that official state business must be conducted in English.

The ACLU requested the judge to freeze the implementation of the law until its appeal could be considered, but was denied. U.S.ENGLISH, which has 12,196 members in Utah, and 1.5 million members nationwide, defended Initiative A in court.

"U.S.ENGLISH was proud to defend official English in Utah," said Mujica, an immigrant from Chile, "and we hope this law will encourage non-English speaking immigrants in the state to learn English and assimilate into American culture."

U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. (www.usenglish.org) now has more than 1.8 million members.