Its Up to the People to Decide

Recently a Yuma Arizona Superior Court judge disqualified a candidate for city council from running for office because of a “large gap” between her English proficiency and that required to serve as a public official. The candidate- who reads and writes English- claims she can understand and answer in English albeit not fluently. As an aside, she graduated from Yuma’s public Kofa High School. But that –as they say- that is another story, entirely.
Where, exactly, does the state get to say who is qualified and who is not qualified to represent their constituents? If, indeed, Ms Cabrera is made less effective because of her language deficiencies in interacting with her fellow city council members, her fluency in Spanish and Hispanic heritage may make her may be more effective in interacting with and understanding the needs of her constituents. If it doesn’t work out then so be it. It seems to me the decision rests with the people regarding who they want to represent their interests –“warts” and all.
There is a reason why the Constitution establishes only three requirements for those who seek to serve in Congress – citizenship, age, and residency. The drafters realized that citizens should not have their rights to choose their representatives further abridged by state actions. The Supreme Court, in 1969, drove this point home in deciding that Congress had no authority to place additional qualifications on its members. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr was a thorn in the side of many conservatives in the House of Representatives, who ultimately refused to allow him to be seated following his 1966 re-election. In the special election subsequently called –while the case was being adjudicated- he was re-elected again by his New York City district, even though he had been stripped of his seniority power by the House.
We can argue about the wisdom of electing a person with limited command of the English language, but analogous arguments can be held about electing individuals lacking a high school diploma or individuals who have recently established residency and have little sense of the lay of the land. Same goes for electing convicted felons, or for individuals who are ignorant of how the government works and the contents of the Constitution. The point established over two hundred years ago still stands – the people should be free to chose the person they wish to represent their interests.