Ruiz v. Hull
| Decision Date | 28 April 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. CV-96-0493-PR,CV-96-0493-PR |
| Citation | 191 Ariz. 441,957 P.2d 984 |
| Parties | , 268 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 3 Armando RUIZ, Linda Aguirre, John Philip Evans, Rosie Garcia, Candido Mercado, Manuel Pena, Jr., Peter Rios, Jr., Macario Saldate IV, Federico Sanchez and Victor Soltero, Plaintiffs/Appellants/ Cross-Appellees, v. Jane Dee HULL, Governor of Arizona; Grant Woods, Attorney General of Arizona; State of Arizona; Arizonans for Official English and Robert D. Park, Intervenors, Defendants/Appellees/Cross-Appellants. |
| Court | Arizona Supreme Court |
Grant Woods, Attorney General by Rebecca White Berch, Assistant Attorney General, Paula S. Bickett, Assistant Attorney General, Thomas I. McClory, Assistant Attorney General, Phoenix, for Jane Dee Hull, Grant Woods, and The State of Arizona.
Stephen G. Montoya and Albert M. Flores, Phoenix, for Appellant Plaintiffs/Appellants/Cross-Appellees.
Morrison & Hecker, L.L.P. by James F. Henderson, Tyler Q. Swensen, Phoenix, for Arizonans for Official English and Robert D. Park.
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Los Angeles, CA, by Irma Rodriguez and Legal Aid Society of San Francisco Employment Law Center, San Francisco, CA, and American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Inc., San Francisco, CA, and Ortega & Associates, P.C. by Daniel R. Ortega, Jr., Phoenix, for Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Hanson, Bridgett, Marcus, Vlahos & Rudy by Robert L. Rusky, San Francisco, CA, for American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and Legal Aid Society of San Francisco, Employment Law Center.
Brown & Bain, P.A. by Antonio T. Viera, Phoenix, for Arizona Civil Liberties Union; Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association; League of United Latin American Citizens; Arizona Hispanic Coalition; Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Arizona Hispanic Community Forum; Chicanos Por La Causa.
Roderick G. McDougall, Phoenix City Attorney by Paul L. Badalucco, Assistant Phoenix City Attorney, Phoenix, for City of Phoenix.
Perez & Choi by Hyung S. Choi, Phoenix, Karen K. Narasaki, Washington, D.C., Sandra Del Valle, New York, N.Y., for Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund; National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, et al.
Herb Yazzie, Attorney General, Navajo Nation by Kimberly A. Rozak, Navajo National Department of Justice, Window Rock, for the Navajo Nation.
Dominguez & Associates, P.C. by Antonio Dominguez, Phoenix, and Steven R. Shapiro, Marjorie Heins, New York, N.Y., and Edward M. Chen and Hanson, Bridgett, Marcus, Vlahos & Rudy by Robert L. Rusky, San Francisco, CA, for American Civil Liberties Union and American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California.
Jennings & Haug by Robert O. Dyer, Stacy A. Dowdell, Phoenix, and Ginsburg, Feldman & Bress by Leonard J. Henzke, Jr., Washington, D.C., for U.S. English, Inc.
Brown & Bain, P.A. by Stephen E. Lee and Peter M. Tiersma, Loyola Law School, Phoenix, for Linguistic Society of America.
Donald W. Jansen, Arizona House of Representatives, Phoenix, for Arizona Legislators.
Ortega & Associates, P.C. by Daniel R. Ortega, Jr., Phoenix, and Christopher Ho, Legal Aid Society of San Francisco Employment Law Center and Hanson, Bridgett, Marcus, Vlahos & Rudy by Robert L. Rusky, San Francisco, CA, and Theresa Fay-Bustillos, Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Los Angeles, CA, for Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Employment Law Center.
Osborn Maledon, P.A. by Andrew D. Hurwitz, Phoenix, and Crowell & Moring, L.L.P. by Joseph N. Onek, William D. Wallace, Javier M. Guzman, Scott E. Gant, Washington, D.C., for National Council of La Raza; Ayuda, Inc.; Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation; Centro de Amistad, Inc.; Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc; Friendly House, Inc.; Housing for Mesa, Inc.; Valle Del Sol, Inc.
Snell & Wilmer, L.L.P. by Martha E. Gibbs, Phoenix, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison by Jodi A. Danzig, Allan Blumstein, New York, N.Y., for Human Rights Watch.
Steptoe & Johnson, L.L.P. by Bennett Evan Cooper, Phoenix, Richard K. Willard and Washington Legal Foundation by Daniel J. Popeo, Richard A. Samp, Washington, D.C., for Washington Legal Foundation; Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy; Allied Educational Foundation; United States Representatives Charles T. Canady; Matt Salmon; Bob Stump; Bob Barr; Bill Barrett; Doug Bereuter; Chris Cannon; Jon Christensen; John T. Doolittle; Bob Goodlatte; Doc Hastings; Asa Hutchinson; Peter King; William Lipinski; Ron Paul; Ed Royce; F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.; Gerald B. Solomon.
¶1 This opinion addresses the constitutionality of Article XXVIII of the Arizona Constitution (the "Amendment"), which was adopted in 1988 and which provides, inter alia, that English is the official language of the State of Arizona and that the state and its political subdivisions--including all government officials and employees performing government business--must "act" only in English.
¶2 We hold that the Amendment violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution because it adversely impacts the constitutional rights of non-English-speaking persons with regard to their obtaining access to their government and limits the political speech of elected officials and public employees. We also hold that the Amendment violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because it unduly burdens core First Amendment rights of a specific class without materially advancing a legitimate state interest.
¶3 In making these rulings, we express no opinion concerning the constitutional validity of less restrictive English-only provisions discussed in this opinion. We also emphasize that nothing in this opinion compels any Arizona governmental entity to provide any service in a language other than English.
¶4 In October 1987, Arizonans for Official English ("AOE") initiated a petition drive to amend Arizona's constitution to designate English as the state's official language and to require state and local governments in Arizona to conduct business only in English. As a result of the general election in November 1988, the Amendment was added to the Arizona Constitution, receiving affirmative votes from 50.5% of Arizona citizens casting ballots. See Yniguez v. Arizonans for Official English ("AOE"), 69 F.3d 920, 924 (9th Cir.1995) (en banc). 1 The Amendment, entitled "English as the Official Language," is set forth in full in the Appendix and provides that "[t]he State and all political subdivisions of [the] State shall act in English and in no other language." The Amendment binds all government officials and employees in Arizona during the performance of all government business, and provides that any "person who resides in or does business in this State shall have standing to bring suit to enforce this article in a court of record of the State."
¶5 Two days after the voters passed the Amendment, Maria-Kelley F. Yniguez sued the State of Arizona, the Governor, and various parties pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, seeking to enjoin enforcement of the Amendment and to have it declared unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. She also contended that it violated federal civil rights laws. Yniguez v. Mofford, 730 F.Supp. 309 (D.Ariz.1990). When she filed her action, Yniquez was employed by the Arizona Department of Administration and handled medical malpractice claims asserted against the state. Yniguez was bilingual, fluent and literate in both Spanish and English, and, prior to the Amendment's passage, she communicated in Spanish with monolingual Spanish-speaking claimants and in a combination of English and Spanish with bilingual claimants. Id. at 310.
¶6 By the time the district court ruled, only the Governor remained as a defendant. Id. The district court granted declaratory ¶7 The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court's denial and also allowed Arizonans Against Constitutional Tampering, the principal opponent of the Amendment, to intervene as plaintiffs-appellees. Yniguez v. AOE, 42 F.3d 1217, 1223-24 (9th Cir.1994). The intervention of the Arizona Attorney General was permitted for the limited purpose of urging adoption of his narrow interpretation of the Amendment discussed below or, alternatively, to urge the certification of the interpretation of the Amendment to this court pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated ("A.R.S.") § 12-1861. 2
relief, finding that the Amendment was facially overbroad in violation of the First Amendment. Id. at 313. Injunctive relief, however, was denied because there was no enforcement action pending against Yniguez. Id. at 317. The Governor did not appeal the decision. The Attorney General of Arizona, AOE, and Robert D. Park, a principal sponsor of the Amendment, then moved to intervene for purposes of pursuing an appeal. The district court denied the motion. Yniguez v. Mofford, 130 F.R.D. 410 (D.Ariz.1990)
¶8 The State of Arizona filed a suggestion of mootness because Yniguez was no longer employed by the State of Arizona. The court of appeals rejected the suggestion of mootness, reasoning that Yniguez had a right to appeal the district court's failure to award nominal damages to her and, therefore, had a sufficient concrete interest in the outcome of the litigation to confer standing to pursue declaratory relief. Yniguez v. Arizona, 975 F.2d 646, 647 (9th Cir.1992) (citations omitted).
¶9 AOE appealed the district court's judgment that declared the Amendment unconstitutional and Yniguez cross-appealed the denial of nominal damages. A panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the district court that the Amendment is...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Fann v. State
...¶23 Laws enacted by initiative, like acts of the legislature, are presumed constitutional. Ruiz v. Hull , 191 Ariz. 441, 448 ¶ 25, 957 P.2d 984, 991 (1998). And where there is a reasonable, even though debatable, basis for the statute, we will uphold it unless it is clearly unconstitutional......
-
State v. Cota
...action in conformity therewith.” Ariz. R. Evid. 404(b). 4. Cota contends that Cordova is no longer valid in light of Ruiz v. Hull, 191 Ariz. 441, 957 P.2d 984 (1998), which concerned Article 28 of the Arizona Constitution, the “English as the Official Language” amendment. But Ruiz was not b......
-
White Mountain Health Ctr., Inc. v. Maricopa Cnty.
...is insufficient to preserve an issue on appeal). Additionally, amici cannot raise issues not raised below or by the parties. Ruiz v. Hull , 191 Ariz. 441, 446, ¶ 15, 957 P.2d 984 (1998). ¶ 28 The second amicus brief, from the Yavapai County Attorney, argues the AMMA is preempted by the fede......
-
City of Tucson v. Pima County
...to the legislature, the executive branch and its various agencies, and the judicial branch," Ruiz v. Hull, 191 Ariz. 441, 457 ¶ 61, 957 P.2d 984, 1000 (1998) (citations omitted), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1093, 119 S.Ct. 850, 142 L.Ed.2d 703 (1999), but there has been no interference with acce......