A small New York town has provoked controversy by making English its official language.
Despite representing a community of only 1,700 people, members of Jackson Town Council passed a resolution by three votes to one that "all official meetings and business conducted by the elected officials and their appointees" should be carried out in English only.
The law was proposed by council member and retired businessman Roger Meyer.
"For too long, the federal government has shirked its duty by not passing English as the official language of the United States," Meyer told the New York Times. "So seeing as this law couldn't be passed from the top down, I felt I'd start a grass-roots movement to try to get it passed from the bottom up."
The law follows larger-scale debates over immigration in Arizona. Jackson is not the first town in the state of New York to pass such a law. Similar measures have been taken by nearby Argyle. The town of Easton plans to follow suit.
But the American Civil Liberties Union has condemned the move as discriminatory.
An ACLU spokesperson said it prohibited free speech and endangered speakers of foreign languages in, say, police investigations or emergency situations.
Town Supervisor Alan Brown was the only council member who voted against the law. While Meyer appears to have received widespread acclaim, Brown has come under fire for opposing it.
"It sends the wrong message. It will play to some people's prejudices and I don't think that's a good thing," he told the NYT.
16 May 2010
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