The Nation - News from Feb. 5, 1988

Florida’s Supreme Court ruled that a proposed constitutional amendment to make English the state’s official language can be put on a statewide ballot if enough petition signatures are obtained. Both sides of the issue said the ruling would boost the signature-gathering campaign. The amendment would apply only to government agencies and wouldn’t affect the private use of other languages, say proponents who deny allegations that it is anti-Latino. The unanimous opinion rejected arguments that the wording of the proposal is so broad as to violate a constitutional prohibition against amendments that cover more than one subject and that the ballot summary of what it does is misleading. Pat Fulton, a spokeswoman for the petition campaign, said 215,000 signatures have been collected and 125,098 validated. Proponents need 342,939 signatures to get on the November ballot.