ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 1997 TAG: 9703040048
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
Sidestepping a divisive debate swirling around English-only measures, the Supreme Court Monday said an Arizona dispute over efforts to make English the official state language never should have reached the nation's highest court.
The justices unanimously ruled that the Arizona dispute became moot, or legally irrelevant, years ago when the state employee who challenged an English-only amendment to the state's constitution left her government job.
When the court agreed to hear the Arizona case last year, it had been expected to decide the constitutionality of English-only measures, enacted in 23 states. But by the time the justices conducted oral arguments in December, it was clear the potential for an explosive ruling had fizzled.
In other matters Monday, the court:
* Ruled in a New Mexico case that the five years in prison federal defendants get for using guns to commit their crimes should be added on to sentences they are serving for state crimes.
* Agreed to decide in a Pennsylvania case under what circumstances employers can poll unionized workers to test their support for their union.
* Clarified a key element of patent law - how similar a new invention must be to an existing patent to be deemed an illegal infringement. The ruling seemed to bolster patent holders' rights.
During oral arguments in the English-only case, the justices had ignored the constitutional issues and focused on two procedural issues - mootness and legal standing.
The court's ruling, delivered in a 37-page opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, wiped out lower court rulings in the case.
The net effect: reinstatement of a 1988 measure that made English Arizona's official language and required government actions to be taken in English.
But Ginsburg noted that the English-only measure is the subject of another challenge now before the Arizona Supreme Court. The state court ``may now rule definitively on the proper construction'' of the 1988 measure, she said.
Arizona voters adopted the English-only amendment to their state constitution, but lower courts struck it down. They ruled that the amendment ``obstructs the free flow of information and adversely affects the rights of many private persons.''
The amendment said English ``is the language of the ballot, the public schools and all government functions and actions.''
It applied to all government officials and government business and said the state ``shall act in English and no other language.''
Exceptions allowed other languages to be used to help people learn English, teach foreign languages, comply with federal laws, protect public health or protect the rights of criminal defendants or crime victims.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB