ridiculousness of the day: english-only elections in tennessee

via The Tennessean

Metro Nashville’s English-only special election is on, for now.

Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman ruled Wednesday that her court did not have the authority to grant a request to halt the Jan. 22 election.

“The court takes no pleasure in dismissing the lawsuit filed by Ms. Quinteros but does so … because the issue is not ripe,” she said.

In essence, Bonnyman ruled that plaintiff Rosa Quinteros — a Honduran immigrant who has been living in Davidson County since 1998 after being granted temporary asylum by the U.S. government — must wait until the measure is put to voters and becomes law before she can challenge its constitutionality. She is suing Metro government and the Davidson County Elections Commission to stop the election.

Quinteros declined to comment on the advice of her lawyers, David Randolph Smith and Sean Lewis.

Smith said he would file an appeal as soon as possible with the Tennessee Supreme Court or the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Either court could rule in favor of Quinteros and could halt the election.
Voting begins Jan. 2

Metro Councilman Eric Crafton, the driving force behind efforts to limit most government business to the English language since 2006, said he doesn’t understand how Quinteros’ rights have been violated.

“What I don’t understand is why someone granted temporary asylum … felt that that gave her the right to suppress the right of voters to be heard,” he said.

Bonnyman did not rule on whether the English-only measure is constitutional. She said that a 2004 case decided by the Tennessee Supreme Court indicated that such a determination cannot be made before an election unless there are questions about the process or procedures used leading up to an election.

Ballots will be mailed to military personnel and other Davidson County voters living abroad on Dec. 8. Early voting is set to begin Jan. 2.

On Tuesday, a naturalized citizen from Myanmar joined the lawsuit, claiming that he has concerns about how an English-only rule would affect his ability to assist Southeast Asian refugees in Nashville. Win Myint’s legal filing said he has noticed more divisiveness locally since English-only has become an issue.

I really want to write more about the oppressive privileged nature of the English language, both in the academy and in every day life.