Official Language

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court backed off yesterday from the debate over whether to make English the official language, leaving the constitutionality of the idea uncertain for another year or more.Acting unanimously, the court dismissed an Arizona case that questions the power of states and the federal government to require English as the only language for government actions or programs. The court's move could reinstate an English-only law in Arizona.The challenge to the Arizona law, the court said, was procedurally flawed and thus should never have reached the Supreme Court.

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for partly sunny skies, with a high temperature near 66 degrees. Tonight's forecast calls for clouds, with showers likely, and a low temperature around 55 degrees. TRAFFIC Check our traffic updates for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM THE WEEKEND... Battles loom as Baltimore Co. changes zoning map : The Comprehensive Zoning Map Process -- in which the county may change rules governing land use -- is under way, as it has been every four years since 1971.

ISSUE: A bill by Del. Patrick L. McDonough, a 7th District Republican, that would have designated English as the official language and required state and local governments to publish documents in English was killed in committee recently. PRO: Ability to understand English as a common language is essential for citizens to participate in the governmental process in the United States. CON: According to the 2000 census, about 13 percent of Maryland residents speak a language other than English at home, and the government has a duty to provide services to these people without regard to language.

A little while ago I suggested that the Frederick County commissioners were showboating with their ordinance making English the official language in the county . But this is America, and the people elected them, and they are entitled to waste the people's time with frivolous enactments. So, by way of apology for the harshness of my tone previously, I offer them a humble suggestion. Let them next make football the official sport of Frederick County, thus thwarting the inroads of Latinos and their detestable futbol . Not that I can endorse this measure myself.

Consider continent's first real languages What considerations do you think the government should give to residents who don't speak English? Here are readers' views:It's ironic that those who settled North America and had little regard for the ways and language of the indigenous peoples would feel that English is the proper language for the United States. Is there any wonder why I as a Cherokee would see this as just a tad hypocritical? Rather than turn this into a screed against the original settlers, please allow me to point out that English wasn't the first language of the land now known as the United States.

LEGISLATION that would make English the official language of Maryland is working its way through the General Assembly for the umpteenth time.People used to laugh at this measure but today it has to be taken seriously: It has passed the House, though its prospects in the Senate may be dim.The bill would require state and local governments to publish documents and conduct meetings in English, just as they do now. It makes no sense. We do not need it. Nowhere in Maryland is the use of English in jeopardy.

The commissioners of Carroll County, Maryland, are solemnly considering a measure to make English the official language of their county , following the examples of Frederick County and Queen Anne's County.  Perhaps the best that can be said of the measure is that it will do little or no harm, having little practical effect. Federal and state regulations will remain unaffected, and likely most business practices too. The shelves of Carroll County shops will continue to carry products with bilingual English/Spanish labeling, English/French when they come from Canada.  It is a measure that addresses an evil that does not exist.

The Frederick County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday night to adopt an ordinance making English the county's official language, the Frederick News-Post has reported. According to the newspaper, the board voted 4-1 to approve the law, which replaces a previous nonbinding resolution. The measure appears more symbolic than substantive, and does not override federal or state laws requiring the use of other languages in certain circumstances. Nor does it prevent county officials from using other languages in emergencies or to communicate with criminal suspects.

An Anne Arundel County teenager is protesting his high school's decision to broadcast the Pledge of Allegiance in languages other than English during National Foreign Language Week. Patrick Linton, a ninth-grader at Old Mill High School in Millersville, said he and some other students sat down yesterday rather than stand when the Pledge was read in Russian over the school's public address system. The 15-year-old said his teacher told him if he had a problem, he should leave the room - so he did. And, he said, he doesn't plan to return this week.

Language is a difficult subject to discuss dispassionately because it's our essence. So when two languages come cheek to jowl, as English and Spanish have in the United States, it becomes a hot issue. As Chicano poet Gloria Anzaldua wrote in Borderlands: La Frontera: "So, if you really want to hurt me, talk badly about my language. I am my language." Linguistic terrorism has plagued children of immigrants and Native Americans for generations. Alberto Alvaro R?os wrote in his book Capirotada: A Nogales Memoir: "If speaking Spanish is bad, and our parents speak Spanish, then they must be bad," he concluded, "and we became ashamed of them."