Comparisons indicated that the 20 states which adopted English as their official language since 1984 had lower percentages of high school graduates and higher rates of motor vehicle fatalities among their residents than did those states that did not enact such laws. The two types of states did not differ in homicide, suicide, divorce, illegitimacy, or rape rates based on 1990 census data. Also, they did not differ in terms of percentages of residents who were foreign-born, college graduates, imprisoned, unemployed, or who spoke a language other than English in the home.
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