Roberts Steps in to Moderate as Justices Spar over Education Stats
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. stepped in yesterday to end the sparring as two justices talked about statistics on immigrant English classes in an Arizona school district.
The U.S. Supreme Court case considers whether Arizona schools are complying with federal laws requiring states to take appropriate actions to overcome language barriers for students.
Former solicitor general Kenneth Starr, the dean of Pepperdine Law School, defended state officials and the state’s English-immersion program in Horne v. Flores, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. The Daily Journal (sub. req.) reports that the court appeared to be leaning in Starr’s favor and a conclusion that an Arizona federal judge abused his discretion by requiring increased state funding for language instruction.
But justices who disagreed with that conclusion were putting up a fight, according to The BLT. “Justices on the liberal end of the court spectrum piled on almost as soon as Starr started speaking, challenging his every assertion and leaving most of his sentences unfinished,” the story says.
Justice Stephen G. Breyer cited statistics to suggest that the English programs weren’t getting the desired results in the Nogales school district where the case originated. Justice Antonin Scalia then jumped in, asking what the numbers represented. The BLT describes the exchange.
When Starr tried to answer, Scalia stopped him. “If you can’t answer that, I think Justice Breyer can,” he said.
Breyer protested, saying, “He doesn’t actually have the right to ask me questions.”
Scalia replied, “I don’t. That’s— that’s exactly true. But—”
At that point, Roberts jumped in. “Very much true,” Roberts said, referring to Scalia’s statement. “Counsel, why don’t you try and answer.” Breyer and Scalia then laughed, and Starr “gamely answered and got his argument back on track,” the BLT reports.
The Arizona Republic also covered the arguments. The newspaper says conservatives on the court “questioned the lower courts’ seeming micromanagement of Arizona education funding and policy, traditionally a state and local issue.”
If the conservatives carry the day, “the Supreme Court could use the case to send a message to federal judges across the country not to overstep their authority,” the Arizona Republic says.
