'English Only' Edicts Shelved In Houston
"English only" edicts ordered in separate instances by a police official and a judge in Houston rules have been reversed.
CBS News Correspondent Cami McCormick reports Hispanic leaders were outraged by a short-lived memo ordering Houston Police Department janitorial and maintenance crews not to speak Spanish during working hours.
The memo came from William Shelton, head of the HPD facilities and maintenance division, who wrote:
"It has been brought to my attention that individuals are speaking Spanish during duty hours in the presence of their non-Spanish speaking co-workers. Effective today, Aug. 25, 2000, only English is to be spoken during working hours by the employees of the facilities operations and maintenance division."
Shelton's order was quickly reversed.
Shortly after the memo became public late Friday, Assistant Police Chief D.N. Richards directed Shelton to rescind his memo and "advise your subordinates that no disciplinary action should be taken."
Richards added, "In the future, policy issues should be brought to my attention for my review and approval prior to issuance."
HPD spokesman John Leggio said he was unable to say how many employees the maintenance division has or how many speak Spanish.
"The chief (C.O. Bradford) is aware of Mr. Shelton's letter," Leggio said. "This has never been and never will be the policy of the Houston Police Department. And so, he made sure to have Chief Richards send that order."
A spokesman for the League of United Latin American Citizens said that was not enough.
"This is highly insulting to us," said Johnny Mata, spokesman for the local office of LULAC. "It leaves you to wonder exactly what kind of managerial training these people have. We intend to push it further."
Mata said the group wants to meet with Bradford and Mayor Lee Brown to push for sensitivity and managerial training throughout all city departments.
"Immediately, this needs to be addressed to all division managers, CEOs and some in-service training [is needed] informing them that this will not be tolerated in the city of Houston," he said.
In the case of the judge, it was during a custody case that she banned the mother of a 6-year-old girl from speaking Spanish at home. State District Court Judge Lisa Millard has been recused from the case by another judge.
Millard issued the Spanish ban on Natalia Gonzalez in April 1999 at the request of the girl's father. Millard amended the order three months ago, broadening the ban to everyone in the family including the father, Ramon Gonzalez.
The Gonzalezes have joint custody of the girl, Carolina, but continue to battle in court. Ramon Gonzalez, a 58-year-old Mexico native, said the girl's English and schoolwork have improved since the ban was enacted.
Millard rescinded the Spanish ban after it was shown Carolina's English had improved, but the mother's lawyers argue Millard showed bias and should be removed from the ongoing custody battle. Visiting District Judge Fred Edwards agreed in a one-sentence order Thursday.
In a prepared statement, Natalia Gonzalez's lawyer, Michael Solar, said: "We're very pleased with today's ruling. We believed we filed a compelling motion that was supported by uncontroverted evidence."
Solar said he did not know the current whereabouts of Natalia and Carolina Gonzalez and was unsure whether they would appear at a scheduled Oct. 9 custody hearing.
State Rep. Rick Noriega, a Democrat, said Millard was not an educational expert and had no standing to issue the ban.
"As Americans we should rejoice in this decision," Noriega said in a news release Thursday. "It demonstrates that our Constitution is a living document for all Americans."
Millard was attending a seminar in San Antonio and unavailable for comment, her staff said Thursday.
Ramon Gonzalez's attorney, Tom Conner, said he was disappointed that Millard was removed from the case.
"We respect Judge Edwards' ruling. Based on the way he made the ruling, I'm not sure Judge Millard did anything improper," Conner said.