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For Immediate Release Contact: Phil Kent ProEnglish says Alabama Supreme Court decision violates state constitution and common senseARLINGTON, VA – ProEnglish, an Arlington, Va.-based national organization that advocates for official English, criticized a recent decision by the Alabama Supreme Court upholding the state’s policy of giving driver’s license exams in multiple languages as “a blatantly political decision that twists the meaning of words in order to violate the Alabama constitution’s provision that made English the state’s official language.” The 5-4 ruling came on an appeal of a lawsuit by five Alabama members of ProEnglish that asked the courts to order Gov. Riley and state officials to reinstate Alabama’s policy of giving driver’s license exams exclusively in English. The plaintiffs were represented by the Southeastern Legal Foundation, a constitutional public interest law firm in Atlanta, GA. ProEnglish Executive Director K.C. McAlpin said, “This is an outrageous decision in which the majority agreed to suspend common sense, parse the meaning of words, and ignore evidence in order to violate the state’s constitution and overrule the vast majority of the people of Alabama. It calls into question whether we live in a democracy or an autocracy ruled by activist judges.” Amendment 509 to the Alabama Constitution was adopted in 1990 by voters in a statewide referendum that won by a 9-1 margin. The amendment reads in part, “English is the official language of the state of Alabama…..The legislature and officials of the state of Alabama shall take all steps necessary to insure that the role of English as the common language of the State of Alabama is preserved and enhanced.” Notwithstanding the constitution’s language and plain intent, a majority of the Supreme Court justices decided to accept at face value the state’s nonsensical contention that letting non English speaking immigrants take driver’s license exams in their native languages helps them assimilate and eventually learn English since they then can get driver’s licenses, jobs, and shop. “Sadly, this is the kind of hallucination that passes for logic in Alabama courts today,” said McAlpin. He added that the court’s majority claimed the plaintiffs had submitted no evidence to rebut this “evidence,” but ignored seven specific instances cited in a dissenting opinion in which the assertion indeed was rebutted. McAlpin said ProEnglish was not giving up, but would turn its attention to persuading the Alabama legislature to adopt legislation spelling out the constitution’s application with regard to driver’s license tests.
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