Sandoval v. Hagan

• Decision Date: 30 November 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-6598,PLAINTIFFS-APPELLEES,DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS,98-6598
• Parties: (11th Cir. 1999) MARTHA SANDOVAL, INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED,, v. L.N. HAGAN, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS DIRECTOR OF THE ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, AND ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY,
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 484

197 F.3d 484 (11th Cir. 1999)

MARTHA SANDOVAL, INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED, PLAINTIFFS-APPELLEES, v. L.N. HAGAN, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS DIRECTOR OF THE ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, AND ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS.

No. 98-6598

U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

November 30, 1999

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. (No. CV-96-D-1875-N), Ira DeMent, Judge.

Before Hull and Marcus, Circuit Judges, and Roney, Senior Circuit Judge.

Marcus, Circuit Judge

Martha Sandoval, on her own behalf and as the representative of others similarly situated ("Appellees"), filed this lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Public Safety and its director L.N. Hagan, in his official capacity ("Appellants"), challenging the lawfulness of the Department of Public Safety's ("Department") official policy of administering its driver's license examination only in the English language. Appellees specifically alleged that the policy constituted discrimination on the basis of national origin in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d to 2000d-4 and its implementing regulations, as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as secured by 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. After a bench trial, the district court entered a permanent injunction prohibiting the Department's enforcement of the English-only policy pursuant to Section 602 of Title VI, and ordered the Department to make reasonable accommodations for non-English speakers who applied for a driver's license.

Appellants broadly challenge the district court's order on three grounds: first, the lawsuit is barred by the Eleventh Amendment; second, Section 602 of Title VI does not contain an implied private cause of action; and finally, an English-language policy cannot constitute unlawful national origin discrimination as a matter of law. After thoroughly reviewing the record and parties' briefs, we affirm the district court's judgment.

I.

The factual and procedural history surrounding this case are straightforward, uncontroverted, and laid out fully by the district court. Alabama, like almost every other state, historically has administered the written part of its Class D driver's license exam in a variety of foreign languages. From the 1970s to 1991, the Department administered the exam in at least fourteen foreign languages, including Spanish, Korean, Farsi, Cambodian, German, Laotian, Greek, Arabic, French, Japanese, Polish, Thai, and Vietnamese.

However, on July 13, 1990, an English-only Amendment to the Alabama Constitution was ratified. Amendment 509 states:

English is the official language of the state of Alabama. The legislature shall enforce this amendment by appropriate legislation. The legislature and officials of the state of Alabama shall take all steps necessary to insure that the role of English as the common language of the state of Alabama is preserved and enhanced. The legislature shall make no law which diminishes or ignores the role of English as the common language of the state of Alabama.

Any person who is a resident of or doing business in the state of Alabama shall have standing to sue the state of Alabama to enforce this amendment, and the courts of record of the state of Alabama shall have jurisdiction to hear cases brought to enforce this provision. The legislature may provide reasonable and appropriate limitations on the time and manner of suits brought under this amendment.

Approximately one year later, the Department adopted an English-only policy, requiring all portions of the driver's license examination process, including the written exam, to be administered in English only. Interpreters, translation dictionaries, and other interpretive aids were officially forbidden. However, the Department's official policy still continues to provide special accommodations for illiterate, hearing-impaired, deaf, and disabled applicants. Notably, the Department also permits non-English-speaking drivers from other states and foreign countries to exchange a valid out-of-state license for an Alabama license without taking the written exam.

Eight months after the implementation of the Department's English-only policy, the Department requested an opinion from Alabama's Attorney General regarding "whether Amendment No. 509 ... prohibits the Department from giving license tests in any language other than English." The opinion concluded that Amendment 509 required all applicants for driver's licenses to take the examination in English. Although the opinion candidly acknowledged that the English-only policy "might be a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, consideration of safety and integrity of the licensing process would, [in the words of the opinion], support a requirement that driver licensing examinations be given in English."

On December 31, 1996, Martha Sandoval, on her own behalf and as the representative of others similarly situated, filed suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama against the Alabama Department of Public Safety, and its Director L.N. Hagan.¹. She sought a judgment declaring the Appellants' practice unlawful and unconstitutional, and permanently enjoining Appellants from continuing to test only in English.²

On September 3, 1997, the magistrate judge recommended that the district court grant Sandoval's motion to certify a plaintiff class. The Department did not object, and on October 17, 1997, the district court certified the class, naming Sandoval as the representative of the class of "all legal residents of the State of Alabama who are otherwise qualified to obtain a Class D private vehicle driver's license but cannot do so because they are not sufficiently fluent in English." Soon thereafter, Hagan and the Department moved for summary judgment, which the district court denied, concluding that "the issues raised are more amenable to disposition after a full legal and factual exploration at trial."

This case was tried to the court on February 17 and 18, 1998. At its close, the district court granted, with the full agreement of Appellees, Appellants' motion for judgment as a matter of law on Appellees' claim that the policy was adopted as a pretext for discrimination and that the Department intentionally discriminated on the basis of national origin. In addition, the district court granted Appellants' motion for summary judgment on Appellees' Section 1981 claims, finding that those claims were duplications of their Section 1983 claims.

Thereafter, the district court entered a memorandum opinion and order, ruling in Appellees' favor on their claim arising under Title VI's disparate impact regulations. The court enjoined Appellants from enforcing the English-only policy and directed the Department to "fashion proposed policies and practices for the accommodation of Alabama's non-English-speaking residents who seek Alabama's driver's licenses."

The district court made a series of factual findings that are undisputed on appeal. According to its findings, the Department receives more than one million dollars in federal funds every year from the United States Department of Transportation and the Department of Justice. The district court also determined that thousands of Alabama residents of foreign descent suffer adversely from the Department's English-only policy. Dr. Donald Bogie, Director of the Center for Demographics and Cultural Research at Auburn University, presented demographic and census evidence estimating that some 13,000 adult Alabama residents "would have difficulty in obtaining an Alabama driver's license because of the Department's English-only policy." Sandoval, 7 F.Supp.2d at 1297.³. The "vast" majority of this group are of foreign descent. Id. at 1283.

The district court also heard unrefuted testimony that spoke to the individualized impact of the policy on Alabama residents of foreign descent. Directors Brenda Bullock of the Hispanic Ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham and Floria Salazar of the Hispanic Ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Mobile testified that they knew of "hundreds" of adult residents of foreign descent who did not read or speak English fluently, and, as a result, are unable to obtain an Alabama driver's license. See Sandoval, 7 F.Supp.2d at 1291-92. Ms. Salazar herself knew of three hundred such adults, many of whom consequently drive without a license. She also testified that not having a license often affected the ability of these adults to obtain employment, child care services, and other life essentials. See id.⁴

The district court also heard evidence outlining how the Department made special exam accommodations for other statutorily-protected groups but no accommodations for non-English speakers. Under official state policy, hearing-impaired, illiterate, deaf, and disabled residents receive substantial accommodation on the written exam and road skills test. See id. at 1287-89. Illiterate English speakers may take the test orally from a state examiner. Illiterate deaf applicants may make appointments to take the exam in sign language. See id. For those hearing-impaired applicants, who cannot adequately read and write English, a video exam is offered. See id. Additionally, the Department also grants driver's licenses to applicants of foreign descent who possess valid driver's licenses from other states or countries. These applicants are not required to pass the English-only written exam in order to obtain a state license. See id. at 1289-90. Finally, two members of the class, Martha Sandoval and Lorenzo Leon, testified about the policy's deleterious impact on their own lives. See id. at 1293-94. Sandoval is a permanent...