Ariz. Chief Justice Accused of Banning Non-PC Words
Updated: The group Judicial Watch has accused the chief justice of Arizona’s Supreme Court of imposing an implied ban on the term “illegal alien” and 17 other words or phrases in court opinions.
The conservative group says Chief Justice Ruth McGregor effectively banned the words by distributing a letter from the Arizona Hispanic Bar Association that cautioned against use of the 18 “inflammatory” terms, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports.
“Any judge receiving that letter would conclude the chief justice did not want those words used,” Judicial Watch president Thomas Fitton told the NLJ.
Among the terms the bar association dislikes are illegal alien, illegals, aliens, resident or nonresident aliens, illegal immigrants, scratchbacks or wetbacks, armies of immigrants and invaders, the story says.
Cari Gerchick, director of communications for the court, says McGregor merely distributed the letter and did not ban any words. “There was no implication, none, of any ban of any words within the Arizona court system,” Gerchick told the ABA Journal.
Updated at 9:55 a.m. to include Gerchick’s comment to the ABA Journal.
