Sandoval Case Threatens to Overturn State Official English Laws

On September 26, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would review Alexander v. Sandoval, a decision which held that a state accepting federal funding must provide drivers’ license exams in any language requested by an applicant. The unusually broad decision of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta also created a new civil right to sue governments and businesses for discrimination on the basis of language.

In Alexander v. Sandoval, No.99-1908, Martha Sandoval, a legal immigrant from Mexico who could not speak English well, claimed that Alabama’s English-language driver’s license test discriminated against her. She said that, because Alabama received federal transportation funds, the state had to provide services in any language a non-English speaking client requested. Sandoval admitted that Congress had never required multilingual government services, but said that federal agency regulations did. Alabama replied that it had problems with cheating and safety when it gave multilingual exams, and that its voters had overwhelmingly declared English the official language of the state.

The Eleventh Circuit agreed with Sandoval and struck down the Alabama rule.

If the Supreme Court upholds Sandoval, the case will have three broad effects:

No previous federal appeals court has said that federal civil rights laws treat language as if it were national origin. Over the last twenty years, for example, more than a dozen federal courts have rejected the same claim, but there may be a new trend: Sandoval was the third federal decision in 1999 to forbid employers and governments from providing services or conducting workplaces exclusively in English.

The Eleventh Circuit’s decision is based on Section 602 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but will be extended to other anti-discrimination laws as well. Because the Eleventh Circuit said that a person’s choice of language is the same as the person’s national origin,.for example, the decision also permits individuals to sue private employers for discrimination.

In addition, Sandoval said that the federal government regulations require all contractors and grantees to provide services in any language demanded by an applicant. Thus, Sandoval expands federal agency power far beyond any Congressional enactment or intent. The Eleventh Circuit also found that individuals have an "implied" right to bring this type of lawsuit. The federal Department of Justice joined the Sandoval case to support these claims.