Tennessee judge rekindles language debate

Here's a judicial order that's raising eyebrows in Tennessee and beyond: A county judge there has told at least one Mexican woman that she needs to learn English or face the possibility of losing custody of her young girl. Last October, for instance, in a case involving alleged child neglect, Judge Barry Tatum wrote in a court order: "The court specially informs the mother that if she does not make the effort to learn English, she is running the risk of losing any connection — legally, morally and physically — with her daughter forever." And just last month, according to the Los Angeles Times, he instructed another woman to learn English and use birth control.
 
According to the newspaper article, Tatum has both support and opposition in the community. The arguments are familiar ones: The judge's backers feel that people who want to live in the United States have an obligation to learn English, while his opponents call such orders discriminatory and possibly unconstitutional. Read the L.A. times story ...