Judge to convicts: Learn English or it's jail

[Buffmaster]

Judge to convicts: Learn English or it's jail



WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A judge known for creative sentencing has ordered three Spanish-speaking men to learn English or go to jail.

The men, who faced prison for criminal conspiracy to commit robbery, can remain on parole if they learn to read and write English, earn their GEDs and get full-time jobs, Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. said.

The men, Luis Reyes, Ricardo Dominguez and Rafael Guzman-Mateo, plus a fourth defendant, Kelvin Reyes-Rosario, all needed translators when they pleaded guilty Tuesday.

"Do you think we are going to supply you with a translator all of your life?" the judge asked them.

The four, ranging in age from 17 to 22, were in a group that police said accosted two men on a street in May. The two said they were asked if they had marijuana, told to empty their pockets, struck on the head, threatened with a gun and told to stay off the block.

Attorneys for the men said they were studying the legality of the ruling and had not decided whether to appeal. One of the attorneys, Ferris Webby, suggested that the ruling was good for his client, Guzman-Mateo.

"My client is happy," Webby said. "I think it's going to help him."

The judge sentenced the four men to jail terms of four to 24 months. But he gave the three men, who already had served at least four months, immediate parole. Reyes-Rosario remains imprisoned on an unrelated drug charge.

Olszewski ordered the three to return with their parole officers in a year and take an English test. "If they don't pass, they're going in for the 24 (months)," he said.

The judge said the ruling was not meant as punishment.

"There's no way young kids can be hurt by knowing how to read and write the English language," Olszewski was quoted as saying in Thursday's Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, which first reported the story.

"It's a means to helping them get a better education, getting a better job. Period," the judge added.

[AYHJA]

I like the ruling, personally...And if they don't do it, send them to the Mexican prisons, not the limited resorts we call prisons here...

[5829]

Sounds good to me. Keeps them out of jail and gives them an education.

[g00b3r]

Ok here I go, fixin to piss somebody off. haha

THIS IS AMERICA!!! OUR COUNTRY'S LANGUAGE IS ENGLISH, NOT SPANISH!!!

Learn English before you think about putting your foot into the country. Why should I have to change my day-to-day life and have 2 sets of instructions on EVERYTHING, just because YOU can't speak English. I wouldn't go to live in Mexico (or any other country) without being able to speak the language.

This country REALLY needs to stop catering to illegal immigrants. Because that's all it is. If the illegal immigrants weren't taking jobs away from others, not paying in their taxes, and still able to get government benefits........then our economy might not suck so damn bad.

And while we are at it (getting all the illegal immigrants out), then how about we tell every other country a big FU about our "debt" to them, until our money is paid back that other country's owe us. Why are we paying out and paying out, and we aren't getting any of our money in return.

And ANOTHER thing. I agree it's HORRIBLE kids in Africa, Ethiopia, Mexico, etc are starving at night and have to dig through garbage daily. But do these people not understand we have MILLIONS of children without food and eating out of trash cans or going hungry at night here in AMERICA??? Is anybody coming over here and doing a documentary and trying to get their country to save the children???

Is anybody else sending over their doctors, nurses, etc. in order to do life saving brain surgery for FREE on someone in America??? Then why the hell are we running off everywhere?

TAKE CARE OF HOME!!! If someone in America needs brain surgery, then offer them the free rate. I bet they would take it.


After our economy gets better, no children are starving, and everybody has had the surgery they want to............THEN go help somebody else. Shit has gotten ridiculous. Take care of yourself and your neighbors. You know, Love Thy Neighbor didn't necessarily mean the "neighbor" across many miles of ocean.

Ok, I'm off my soap box now.

[ootpoot]

....send them to the Mexican prisons...

I assumed they were US citizens.
Is there some place where their nationality is mentioned?
I must have missed it.

There are counties in Pennsylvania where the Amish and Hutterites speak German only and some cannot understand English.
Should they be deported?
They've only been there for 350 years.

Finally, the victims of the robbery stated that the Spanish speaking guys asked for weed and told them to stay off their block.
Hmmmm..... Spanish on Spanish violence.
Does the judge wants to widen their language skills to add English on English violence, too?
:laff:

[AYHJA]

I assumed they were US citizens.
Is there some place where their nationality is mentioned?
I must have missed it.

Yeah you did miss it...Hope this doesn't become a habit... ;)

They're 'resident aliens' that don't speak a lick of English...Judging by their age, current social status, and inability to speak English, I figured their nationality... 3 of the 4 already have priors...I've never seen a person speaking only spanish, with the name Rrrrricardo Domingues (one must always remember to roll their r's) and have to question or doubt their native origins...And what does any of that have to do with suggesting they be sent to a Mexican prison..?

Source article: http://tinyurl.com/2ozeen

There are counties in Pennsylvania where the Amish and Hutterites speak German only and some cannot understand English.
Should they be deported?

It can be argued that speakers of 'Pennsylvania Dutch' speak English as well...Furthermore, the Amish do their own thing...And I don't know of any communities in Penn. that can be traced back a few hundred years to a religious exodus form a Spanish speaking group...The analogy isn't really parallel, but I'll entertain it...The county this went down in has a 96.63% white population...I seriously doubt the 1% Hispanic population that are citizens of the United States can't speak ANY English...

Now sure how you didn't get on the same page as everyone else, but to answer your question, the minute the Amish start selling weed and committing crimes, mingling with people outside of their Amish communities, only to get their asses to court and can't speak English, lets get the boats ready...

[g00b3r]

the minute the Amish start selling weed and committing crimes, mingling with people outside of their Amish communities, only to get their asses to court and can't speak English, lets get the boats ready...

I got my Nina and Pinta and maybe even my MayFlower................. :D

[ootpoot]

Übermensch sez: "They're 'resident aliens' "

I checked back with the original source story in the Wilkes Barre 'Citizens Voice'.
Nowhere is the citizenship of the convicted men mentioned.

Übermensch sez: "Judging by...." "I figured...." "I've never seen...."
ROFLOL -- Sorry, I don't want to disturb your preparation for jury duty. :sarcasm:


The REAL story here is that the bad guys used a HANDGUN in the robbery.
In Canada this would be an automatic 10 years on top of any other sentence -- only assholes use guns to commit crimes!
Only criminals have any use for a handgun.

Canadians use their long-guns for shooting bears and littering Yankee tourists from a safe distance,
and the butt-with-a-spike-in-it is handy for clubbing baby seals. ;)

Now here's the pertinent comparison:
Canada -- gun crime punishment = 10 years in jail.
U. S. A. -- gun crime punishment = take a year off to learn English.
Dem 'Murkins sho luv dem guns!
:laff:

[raum]

Canadians Rejoice!

Property and violent crime rates higher than U.S. and Vancouver number one for property crime, says Toews

source: Canadian Board of Trade.

http://www.boardoftrade.com/vbot_page.asp?pageID=1977


Get a clue:
Most handgun deaths are SUICIDES. Most of these handguns are registered.
77% of the gundeath in the US and 57% in Canada are self-inflicted and intentional.

The highest murders per capita occur in countries with strict gun laws. and SUICIDES do not decrease with gun legislation. All gun legislation does is make some people in government rich and make liberty unattractive.

Jamaica, Ireland, UK, Canada, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, all saw increase in violent murders after gun regulation... but their suicide rates did not drop. Canada is flattening out.



http://www.reason.com/news/show/28582.html


as for these resident aliens who commited armed assault... send them back to where they are from. They violated the legality of their resident alien status.

[AYHJA]

I checked back with the original source story in the Wilkes Barre 'Citizens Voice'.
Nowhere is the citizenship of the convicted men mentioned.

So, you checked the original source article and it wasn't there...I checked the article itself and it was...But even still, I'm trying to figure out why you made the point, and then reiterated it after the fact...And as raum said, resident aliens are subject to deportation when they commit certain crimes...I'd say armed robbery fits the bill...

For someone who seemingly thinks lightly of making an intelligent analysis:

Übermensch sez: "Judging by...." "I figured...." "I've never seen...."

Sorry, I don't want to disturb your preparation for jury duty.

I'm befuddled by your comments:

I assumed they were US citizens.

Only criminals have any use for a handgun.

Do you often spar with Conan to have such a double edged sword, or..?

Your extensive use of broad generalizations are absent of any kind of analysis or common sense what so ever...So, I'm a little curious as to what the point is...And before I continue on, I'd like you to answer my question posed in my last post, in regards to your first reply:

And what does any of that have to do with suggesting they be sent to a Mexican prison..?

:?: