English-Only survives in Alabama

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:37 AM -0700 4/26/01, Rudolph C Troike wrote:
>This is a sad day for civil rights in America. This hole in the dike could
>take us back to the 1950s or even the 1920s. -- Rudy
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>
>On Wed, 25 Apr 2001, Roseann Duenas Gonzalez wrote:
>
>Rudy, I was the expert in this case brought by the Southern Poverty Law
>Center.  It won in every Alabama court.  We feared this would be the
>result once the Supreme Court decided to review it.  This sets a terrible
>precedent for all other claims.  I'm sick about it.
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 00:06:31 -0700
>From: C. Thomas Mason <ctm at CTMASON.COM>
>To: LINGUA at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
>Subject: English-Only survives in Alabama
>...
>In a divided 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court today overturned those
>courts' decisions and ruled that individuals have no right to bring
>suit to enforce the DOJ's regulation.  Only the DOJ can do that.  If it
>chooses not to enforce its own regulations, the affected public is simply
>out of luck.
>
>The split occurred along familiar lines.  The five votes in the majority
>were Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas, and
>O'Connor.  The usual suspects dissented--Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg,
>and Breyer.
>
>Tom Mason.

A particularly interesting account of the verdict appeared in
yesterday's New York Times, where Linda Greenhouse, after summarizing
the particulars of Justice Stevens's unusually vigorous dissent,
wrote (at least in my edition, on p. 14):

The lineup on the court was familiar. Chief Justice William H.
Rehnquist signed Justice Scalia's majority opinion, as did Justices
Sandra Day O'Connor, Anthony M. Kennedy, and Antonin Scalia. Justices
David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer joined the
dissent.

You'll recall the waggish suggestion that rather than having Clarence
Thomas vote, the Court might as well just let Scalia vote twice?
Looks like they've formally instituted the practice.

larry
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