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US state bars political hopeful for poor English
Thursday February 09, 2012 12:30:20 PM,
EFE
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Tucson (US): The
Arizona Supreme Court has ended the aspirations of Alejandrina
Cabrera to run for city council in the border town of San Luis
because she does not have sufficient knowledge of English.
"...I can't believe it," John Minore, the attorney representing
Cabrera, told EFE Wednesday, adding that in denying his client the
chance to appear on the ballot the high court is violating her
constitutional rights.
Also, he said, the court's decision could set a "dangerous"
precedent for any Hispanic candidate who tries to run for
political office in Arizona.
The high court decision ratifies the Jan 27 ruling of Yuma County
Superior Court Judge John Nelson.
As a result, Cabrera's name will not appear on the ballots in the
primary election being held March 13.
The candidate was running for one of the four available council
seats in San Luis, where, according to census data, 87 percent of
the residents speak a language other than English and 98 percent
are of Hispanic origin.
Cabrera's legal team had argued that although the state of Arizona
requires that its public servants have an adequate knowledge of
English, it does not specify what knowledge level that should be.
The case arose in December when San Luis Mayor Juan Carlos
Escamilla began legal proceedings to get the judiciary to
determine if Cabrera has sufficient command of English to serve as
councilor.
Following the orders of the court and after performing an
evaluation, an expert determined that Cabrera, a graduate of an
Arizona high school, has enough command of English to be able to
get by day to day but not to fulfill the responsibilities of a
council member.
Cabrera also had trouble responding to some questions put to her
in English by the judge who heard the case.
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