3 ms·

Sure, but what makes it "official" while English is not the official language of the US?

ghaff 3y ago
Nothing really except that the courts apparently used it up to the date given per another comment. Whether the US has an “official” language has been a politically fraught topic at times even though it’s obviously de facto English.
- NeoTar 3y ago
  Indeed - there is an interesting question on Stack Exchange about if a law written and passed in Spanish would be valid (https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/80132/if-congress-passed-a-bill-written-in-a-language-other-than-english-would-it-be https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/80132/if-congress-pa...) - the conclusion (based on my own summation of the discussion) is that it probably would, but it would cause some problems due to a lack of precedent / legal definitions. There hasn't been a federal law passed in anything other than English, but there have been early state laws (in Louisiana) passed in French (https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/80132/if-congress-passed-a-bill-written-in-a-language-other-than-english-would-it-be https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/80132/if-congress-pa...)
  - eesmith 3y ago
    The question was specifically about the US Congress. Puerto Rico's legal system primarily works in Spanish, and is the only US jurisdiction which currently does that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Puerto_Rico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Puerto_Rico
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > Whether the US has an “official” language has been a politically fraught topic at times even though it’s obviously de facto English. The US does not have an official language, and attempts to change that have failed multiple times. This is a simple fact. Whether the US should have an official language is controversial, though. > it’s obviously de facto English. You can't have a de facto official language, de jure is inherent in the “official” of “official language”.

Nothing really except that the courts apparently used it up to the date given per another comment. Whether the US has an “official” language has been a politically fraught topic at times even though it’s obviously de facto English.

NeoTar 3y ago
Indeed - there is an interesting question on Stack Exchange about if a law written and passed in Spanish would be valid (https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/80132/if-congress-passed-a-bill-written-in-a-language-other-than-english-would-it-be https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/80132/if-congress-pa...) - the conclusion (based on my own summation of the discussion) is that it probably would, but it would cause some problems due to a lack of precedent / legal definitions. There hasn't been a federal law passed in anything other than English, but there have been early state laws (in Louisiana) passed in French (https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/80132/if-congress-passed-a-bill-written-in-a-language-other-than-english-would-it-be https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/80132/if-congress-pa...)
- eesmith 3y ago
  The question was specifically about the US Congress. Puerto Rico's legal system primarily works in Spanish, and is the only US jurisdiction which currently does that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Puerto_Rico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Puerto_Rico
dragonwriter 3y ago
> Whether the US has an “official” language has been a politically fraught topic at times even though it’s obviously de facto English. The US does not have an official language, and attempts to change that have failed multiple times. This is a simple fact. Whether the US should have an official language is controversial, though. > it’s obviously de facto English. You can't have a de facto official language, de jure is inherent in the “official” of “official language”.