[whereasandsoforth]

So does that mean lawyers can't use Latin words in court cases and doctors can't use Greek words?

No it does not. Lawyers and doctors are in private businesses, so I know this law has nothing to do with them. Were you hoping that would be the effect of the law?

I, personally, have been confused for a long time about how different government entities come about their conclusions about which other language besides English should be used to fulfill this need that non-English speaking people have. There are so many languages and so little space to print. It seems that the exclusion of any language is discriminatory, and there are too many for it to be practical to use them all, so maybe we should choose just one and stick with it. To make a decision about which language to use out of all languages, i say we should stick with the most widely used language so that the most people can benefit. Here in the USA, that would be English.

I suppose we could abandon written languages all together and just use little pictures, but then I think we would run into a problem with cultural difference causing some folks to misinterpret what the little pictures mean, and then we would be right back where we started.

[Destro]

Here in the USA, that would be English.

I am actually for English being the official language - I will give you an example - In some parts of New jersey due to the influx of Koreans store fronts had only Korean letters on them. Non-Koreans had no clue what store it was or even what address it was. So they passed a law saying the store signs should be in English letters as well - equal sizes to the letters as the non-English letters. So police and first responders can find said establishments, etc.

Now in saying that - are we to go the way France has gone where it bans non French words like in favor of French official versions that a commission comes up with.

Also, what about states where English was not the main language when they became States? Like Spanish, French for Louisiana. What if Louisiana makes French the second official language? What happens when Florida and and the Southwest include Spanish?

There is even a good argument for making German the second official language in Pennsylvania and some states in the west.

Finally, as Conservatives I find it troubling that we are resorting to passing laws on such matters. Let us keep these sayings in mind:

"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." - Tacitus, Roman historian

"The trouble today is that we have too many laws." --John Garner, US Vice-President, 1932

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearsome master." --George Washington

So I feel it is a sad state of affairs when we have to compel someone by the force of the state to speak a language. The ideal of course is that the non-English speaker should want to learn English on their own. Resorting to law means we as a nation are failing to assimilate immigrants in a holistic manner and now must compel them.

Why this failure? Based on the Conservative understanding of the world - the market is why immigrants are failing to assimilate. Before the rise of the welfare state you needed to learn enough English to work and conduct commerce. Without that economic incentive there is no longer a need to assimilate as quickly or as well.

With all that said, I am in favor of utiltarian uses of English as the official language of record as per the store front example I cited but I would be against this law if it was used to compel anyone to speak English.