Judge sentences men to learn English or go to jail
A Pennsylvania judge recently ordered three men charged with conspiracy to commit robbery to learn English or go to jail, according to the AP. If the men don't pass English tests a year from now, they will face 24 months in prison for violating parole.The Spanish-speaking men needed translators in order to plead guilty in court, which prompted the judge to ask: "Do you think we are going to supply you with a translator all your life?"
The judge, Peter Paul Olszewski Jr., said that the unusual sentences, which also require that the men obtain employment, are meant to help them.
One of the defendant's lawyers said he hasn't decided whether to appeal the ruling, and it's unclear why he would.
The worst day spent with Berlitz tapes has got to be better than the best day in the clink-- though, as a former English teacher, I'd say not by much.
More here.
Filed under: United States, News
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mar 28th 2008 @ 7:50AM
rosanna said...
I wish more judges were like this. These criminals want to blame our society for keeping them down, that is why they lie, cheat and steal. As a child of immigrants, they had to read, write and speak English to get anywhere and they WANTED to read, write and speak English. The time of "NO ME GUSTO" has to stop and we Americans need to take back our country. But they GUSTO our money, Press ONE for English, should not be an option, it should be the RULE. Thank God this Judge has a brain. Maybe he should teach a seminar, How to take back America 101.
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Mar 28th 2008 @ 8:07AM
Cam said...
I just hope they got a booth, and were not forced to wait ;)
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Mar 28th 2008 @ 8:49AM
Jerry Lease said...
I don't have any problems with people coming to America legally from any country for the most of us our ancestors were immigrants. I believe that if a person is going to come to America to live they should be given a temporary card and given a set period of time to learn English or leave the country . I get tiered of being told whenever I pick up a phone to press one for English , thank god they only give you two choices English or Spanish , oh wait a minute aren't we discriminating against hundreds of other languages and ethnic groups.
Thank you your Honer it's one step toward Americanizing the newcomers
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Mar 28th 2008 @ 10:05AM
Hank E said...
It is about time that our courts and government officials start demanding that people speak English. Think of the costs involved with bi-lingual country: interrupters, duplication of IRS publications/forms, duplication of instruction/maintenance manuals for various products, etc, etc. Also I would like to have German given special treatment. I mean -- aren't these special priviledges for Spanish discriminatory?
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Mar 28th 2008 @ 10:36AM
Jen said...
J'aime bueaucoup que ma pays est bilangue. Je pense que ce n'est pas une probleme si il y a du traduction ou des courtes dans l'autre langue.
But I think in this case the judge hopefully wasn't making a statement against the men's language skills but instead was trying to help them to do well in the US without a criminal lifestyle. - If he let them off completely, then if they didn't find jobs they'd end up in Jail in a few years anyway.
Bilingualism doesn't cost much. Strong unilingualism can - especially in a country with a high rate of bilingualism anyway.
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