Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 22:17:02 -0400
From: "Bethany Dumas, UTK" DUMASB[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UTKVX.UTK.EDU
Subject: Re: English-Only States
I have not checked on the status of the TN law recently, but I recall
that in 1985 the legislature passed an "English-only" law. One of my
law school classmates took a look at it and said that it was clearly
unconstitutional (at the state level). The reason? TN had a law that
made it illegal for a law to have a title longer than it was, and the
English-only law had such a title. Someone else did a little research
and announced that in such a case prior law obtianed and there was some
evidence that Cherokee had once been an "official" of the area occupied
by TN, so it followed that from 1985 to the present (unless the law
has changed again) the official language of TN is Cherokee.
(Yes, I'm joking, but just barely.)
Bethany Dumas
English/UTK