Luzerne judge sentences 3 men to learn English or go to jail

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Associated Press

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - An eastern Pennsylvania judge known for creative sentencing has ordered three men to learn English or go to jail.

Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. said 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.

Olszewski noted that the three men, Luis Reyes, Ricardo Dominguez and Rafael Guzman-Mateo, plus a fourth defendant, Kelvin Reyes-Rosario, all needed translators in court when they pleaded guilty Tuesday.

The four, ranging in age from 17 to 22, were in a group that police said accosted two men on a Wilkes-Barre 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.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-learnenglish0327-cnap,0,7884085.story

[theoldman]

1. If these young men could not speak English, how did they

verbally threaten the two men?

[pitohui]

2. sounds like they threatened them in spanish

be that as it may, i think people who go around robbing other people need to go to jail, not get probation if they promise to take some classes

i always wonder in such cases what the judge would rule if he thought the victim of the crime was a person of equal humanity to his own grandmother

[zonmoy]

3. the obvious answer is that the men accosted also spoke spanish.

[pitohui]

5. yes they were preying on members of their own community

seems obvious in the context of the article but some people don't click and read before they comment

most violent criminals prey on members of their own communities as far as i'm aware

[KansDem]

4. I thought the same thing...

Maybe the two men also didn't speak English, or were bi-lingual. :shrug:

[MidwestTransplant]

7. Having a gun stuck in your face is the universal way of saying you are being threatened.

[KansDem]

9. Oh, I understand that!

But how did the gun ask for marijuana or tell the two men to stay off the block?

[MidwestTransplant]

15. Magic gun with magic bullets! They exist. Just ask JFK.

[Art_from_Ark]

21. It's not too difficult to imagine a scenario

Thugs stick gun in guy's face, hold out their hands, and say "marijuana", then point fingers at guy's pockets while pointing gun at guy.

[muryan]

6. this obviously has legal precendent

i find it odd that this right winger views learning english as a punishment

[Shakespeare]

10. How do you know he's a right winger?

If you bothered to read the story, you'll note that he's well-known for "outside-the-box" sentences that ultimately serve to HELP the convicted individual. We need FAR more of that than we do overpopulating our prisons.

This keeps the men out of prison (and saves taxpayers money), and puts them on a path that will open up exponentially more opportunities for them. It's actually a very compassionate, far-thinking thing to do. There's nothing "right wing" about that.

[KamaAina]

18. Well, this does sound kind of right-wing...

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

[Freddie Stubbs]

22. Wouldn't a right-winger just send them to jail or deport them?

:shrug:

[davidthegnome]

23. Should they be supplied with one?

For life? Of course not. Seems a reasonable statement to make. Living in a Country where a particular language is dominant - well, it makes sense to learn it.

No, I'm not saying everyone should have to speak it, but I can tell you, if someone told me I had to learn Chinese or go to jail, I'd think twice before deciding to learn Chinese. It's a frustrating form of punishment that is ultimately harmless and for their own benefit. The jobs as well. I think this Judge has shown unusual compassion and wisdom.

[KamaAina]

28. In court, yes

it's part of a defendant's right to due process.

[davidthegnome]

29. From what the judge said

I'm not sure if that's what he meant. Perhaps I'm wrong - but I got the feeling that he was asking if they felt they had the right to have translators follow them around for free all day. I know that in some areas people have to use translators to speak with a car mechanic who's native language is Spanish.

Not saying there's anything wrong with that - just arguing that there's no legitimate reason they shouldn't learn English. It's our primary language. If I moved to Japan, I would learn Japanese even if it was frustrating and difficult.

[Ellen Forradalom]

16. Learning English IS a punishment.

Irregular verbs galore, weird system of tenses, compound verbs, modal verbs, totally bizarre spelling, unpredictable stress pattern, a thicket of idioms and figurative meanings, regional dialects and accents.

:banghead:

[wpelb]

31. Learning English

I've taught English to speakers of other languages (mainly Spanish) at various ages and levels of ability. While it's true that learning English is not easy, the same is true of any language. Spanish, with its complex but fairly regular system of verb conjugation, largely "phonetic" spelling system, etc., is really an exception even among European languages. Most other languages are much more difficult to learn (e.g., some languages make far more distinctions in family relationships, with totally different words for younger and older siblings, distinctions between the different types of uncles--father's brother-in-law vs. father's brother vs. mother's brother vs. mother's brother-in-law, etc.).

[geardaddy]

8. So is he gonna help English speakers?

"Olszewski said it would help the men get a GED, and a job."

Is he going to help people who already speak English get their GED and a job?

[sir pball]

25. Yes he is

From the CNN article"

"Olszewski is known for outside-the-box sentencing.

He has ordered young defendants who are school dropouts to finish school. He often orders defendants to get full-time employment. But he also has his staff coordinate with an employment agency to help them find the jobs."

[geardaddy]

27. Good. n/t

[devilgrrl]

11. Shouldn't people from that part of Pennsylvania learn to speak English as well?

Huh Yins????

Eh Youse????

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. They do not talk that that in NE PA

That would be a Western PA thing.

[devilgrrl]

13. They did in Bloomsburg!

It's not that far from Wilkes-Barre.

[Freddie Stubbs]

14. Must have been some college kids from out West

[la la]

19. hey!!1!!!

ho butt-----youse guys watch yerselves! It's the Coal Region, okay? huh?

PA has many, many different 'dialects', so to speak!

I know this is off topic--but don't diss my peeps, okay?

http://www.coalregion.com/Speak/speakA.htm

:hide:

[happyslug]

26. The Western Pa Dialect is while known.

And it is tied in with the Soft Coal (Bituminous Coal) industry just compare the above maps with this map and you can see it clearly:

[olddad56]

17. Doesn't seem right. The president doesn't know English.

[UTUSN]

20. Guess what, my first ship (of 2) was named "U.S.S. Luzerne County"!1 n/t

[Judi Lynn]

24. It's time Judge Peter Paul Olszewski took a vacation in Miami, or spoke with the DU'er who

wrote that when she told a woman who insisted on speaking to her in Spanish that she didn't speak Spanish, the woman told her, in English, "you need to learn the language so you'll be able to understand what we're saying," or something to that effect. No doubt Judge Olszewski would find that fascinating!

[cigsandcoffee]

30. If they do what he says, it will certainly improve their lives.

I think it's a fair trade for jail. Kudos to the judge.