A group of Hispanic attorneys earlier this year urged the state’s highest judicial official to encourage judges to stop using a host of terms related to illegal immigration that the lawyers find offensive and compromising to judicial integrity. And now the Arizona Supreme Court is trying to dispel rumors that it complied with the request.
Phoenix-based Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association sent a letter to state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor, asking for all state judges to be instructed to avoid terms such as “illegal,” “invaders,” “anchor babies” and “alien” when holding proceedings and when writing orders and opinions.
The group claims the language helps foster a “brand of contemptibility” for some defendants and adds the “appearance of anti-immigrant prejudice” to the courts. But the request has raised the ire of local and national talk radio hosts and interest groups, some of which went on to claim incorrectly that McGregor had agreed to the request.
McGregor responded to the group by letter on Oct. 2, pledging to refer the request to Division II Court of Appeals Chief Judge John Pelander and to ask the Commission of Minorities in the Judiciary to consider whether they want to further circulate Los Abogados request.
McGregor sent the letter to president Lizzette Alameda Zubey and its President-elect Salvador Ongaro, stating that she had “taken several steps to notify our judges of your concerns” and the commission will be asked to consider whether “further distribution of your request would be helpful” if it has not done so already.
McGregor’s letter acknowledged the group’s intention to stop the use of “derogatory comments.” But the chief justice did not comply with nor deny the request, said Cari Gerchick, a court spokeswoman.
“There is no ban on any words and there has never been a ban on any words,” Gerchick said. “Judges are required by the Code of Judicial Conduct to be respectful and dignified and treat people courteously. That just means be polite to the people in your courtroom – period. It does not mean we have delivered some sort of ruling saying you cannot use the words ‘illegal alien’ or we somehow acceded to the request to the organization that asked us to ban the words.
“The Supreme Court is not in the business of banning words.”
Gerchick said she’s been trying to dispel rumors that McGregor complied with the group’s request. Gerchick said she has spoken with local talk-show host J.D. Hayworth and producers from the Rush Limbaugh show, whose host issued an on-air retraction Nov. 11 to correct previous claims by Limbaugh that McGregor had caved to the demands.
A Web site for the syndicated show contains transcripts of the host’s comments under a headline declaring “Arizona Legal Thugs: Ban Saying “Illegal Aliens.” In the entry, Limbaugh states people are “scared” at the direction of political discourse and “they feel this is a country they don’t recognize anymore.”
Paul Orfanedes, litigation director for Washington D.C.-based Judicial Watch, wrote to McGregor, stating that he believes the “extraordinary request” was granted. He claims McGregor sent an implicit signal to lower court judges that they should comply with the request.
“…we believe that recipients would fairly interpret your letter as an instruction to refrain from usage of the terms the bar association considers unacceptable,” Orfanedes wrote.
But Gerchick denied allegations that McGregor has implied to lower courts judges that they should carry out the request from the Hispanic legal group, which included in the letter a glossary of terms it would like to see purged.