The Region : Judges’ English-Only Rule Struck Down

A federal judge chided three Los Angeles County municipal judges as he struck down their order that court clerks could speak only English while on their courthouse jobs. A preliminary injunction against the rule, imposed 13 months ago in the county’s Southeast Judicial District, was granted by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Gadbois Jr. The Los Angeles judges--John Bunnett, Porter deDubovay and Russell Schooling--had no immediate response to the federal court proceeding. Sitting in the back of Gadbois’ courtroom in the Los Angeles federal building was Alva Gutierrez, 29, a clerk-interpreter assigned to the Huntington Park court, who filed the discrimination action against the three judges. After the ruling she told reporters she was “very happy� at the outcome.