By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – The Alabama Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that seeks to stop the state from giving its driver's test in multiple languages. The suit seeks a return to English only.
The justices did not indicate when they would rule.
Shannon Goessling, the executive director of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, said Alabama voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 1990 that makes English the ''official language'' of the state. She said the state used only English for its driver's exam from 1991 to 1998, and it should return to that practice.
But deputy state attorney general Keith Miller argued that the constitutional amendment does not restrict the state to strictly English. He said the constitutional amendment never uses the word ''only.'' He argued that offering the exam in multiple languages helps immigrants assimilate.
The state Department of Public Safety currently offers the driver's exam in Arabic, English, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese and American sign language.
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