Judge: Learn English or go to jail

[Scotter 188]

WILKES-BARRE, Pennsylvania (AP) -- 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.

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.


source:http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/03/27/....ap/index.html


thats a harsh sentence

[Birdman Jr]

Harsh sentence? They were conspiring to commit robbery. This is better "rehabilitation" than spending a couple months in prison could ever do. At least they now have the opportunity to contribute to society and make something of themselves.

[Scotter 188]

ya but shit learnin english is easier said than done

[ryan8551226]

So??? IF they live in America they should know how to speak the dominant language.

[MrShifty]

theres a life lesson in there somewhere

fail the test, go to jail.
lol...

[JUSTBLAZE69]

everyone in the us should learn english or get the fuck out

[GLO]

Originally Posted by Scotter 188

ya but shit learnin english is easier said than done

learning english is way easier than learning any other language ... thats a fact

[Scotter 188]

ya but learning any language is hard for anyone to do...even when you try to learn to similar languages and know one (i.e. portugese and spanish)...good work on judges part tho

[Birdman Jr]

Originally Posted by ¤Glõ8ÂL¤

learning english is way easier than learning any other language ... thats a fact

No, it isn't. English is one of the more difficult languages to learn.

[juvefc417]

well that sucks for them....they should do that around here as well...

i personally learned English at a young age. i was about 8 so it didnt seem that hard to me. but then in high school i noticed that all the kids that just came in had a harder time. i guess the older you get the harder it is.