IT'S OFFICIAL: ENGLISH ONLY, ACLU CONSIDERS LEGAL CHALLENGE; VOTERS PASS
SEIZURE, SALE RESTRICTION

Utah became the 26th state to declare English as its official language
as voters approved a measure lawmakers had failed to pass on three
previous occasions.

Only one county voted down Initiative A -- San Juan.

Utahns also passed Initiative B, forbidding police and prosecutors
from seizing and selling property involved in a crime in which the
owner is not involved.

Joe Hunter, spokesman for Utahns for Official English, acknowledged
the campaign had been "somewhat controversial and at times emotional,
perhaps more than it should have been. The voters saw the initiative
for what it is: A much simpler and much more common sense measure than
some of the opponents made it out to be."

The measure received strong opposition from several politicians, civic
groups, church leaders and educators.

The law requires government business to be conducted in English, with
exceptions for tourism, health, law enforcement and court proceedings,
in schools, universities and libraries. It also encourages the state
to initiate and expand English as a Second Language programs to help
immigrants.

Before the election, there was still much uncertainty over what its
impact would be.

Opponents say the law will prevent non-English speakers from obtaining
vital government services and will make them feel like second-class
citizens.

"We're not terribly surprised, but we are terribly disappointed," said
Lorna Vogt, of Utah Common Voices. Her group, comprising 80
organizations who opposed the measure, couldn't overcome the vast
resources of U.S. English, the national group that got the measure on
the ballot in Utah. Since 1998, when U.S. English starting gathering
signatures, the lobbying and research group has outspent its opponents
almost 7 to 1, or $282,190 vs. $42,149.

Vogt also said voters didn't understand the measure.

"They had it in their minds that it was a very simple gesture that
seemed to make sense on the surface," she said.

The Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union will "likely"
file a lawsuit, claiming violation of equal protection and freedom of
speech, Utah's ACLU director Carol Gnade said.

Initiative B's proponents argued reforms are needed for the state's
laws on the government seizure and sale of property suspected of being
used in a crime. They said law enforcement agencies, in the rush to
use forfeiture proceeds for their budgets, routinely trample on the
rights of people who have not committed crimes.

Three out-of-state businessmen led by Hungarian billionaire George
Soros underwrote the Utah Property Protection Act with about $660,000
in contributions.

Local police and prosecutors got a late start in their campaign
against Initiative B, which they said would crimp their anti-crime
efforts. Organized as the Coalition to Stop Drug Dealer Profits, the
group raised less than $20,000 for their campaign to derail the ballot
measure. They insisted the law already protects the innocent.