Not Guilty by Reason of Limited English proficiency

US English Inc. ^ | February 2, 2004 | Rob Toonkel

[lainde]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 2, 2004 Contact: Rob Toonkel (202) 833-0100 Not Guilty By Reason of Limited English Proficiency Pennsylvania case illustrates a dangerous future of justice

In a terrifying blow to the future of law enforcement and criminal proceedings, Bucks County [Pa.] prosecutors were forced to drop drug charges against a man after a Pennsylvania Superior Court declared a search void due to the accused's inability to understand English.

After Pennsylvania police pulled over New York resident Miqueas Acosta for driving with an expired safety sticker in June 2000, a subsequent search of his vehicle found a kilo of cocaine hidden in the minivan. Acosta claimed that the drugs, with a street value of $100,000, were not his and that he had only been hired by an acquaintance to drive the van from New York to Philadelphia. In addition, Acosta said that he was confused by the English questions from the officers and felt pressured into authorizing the search. A Pennsylvania court agreed, saying that the officers should have waited for a translator after reading the man his Miranda rights in Spanish, and ruled the drugs inadmissible.

?This case sets a dangerous precedent, said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of U.S. English, Inc. It tells Americans that lack of English proficiency is a valid excuse for those suspected of criminal activity. Furthermore, it places an undue burden on police officers working to protect our nation. Will there soon be a need for hundreds of officers, each speaking a different language, to attend to each traffic stop?? Census figures have found more than 325 languages spoken in the United States, including 138 in Pennsylvania.

?Here we have a man driving on some of the most heavily traveled roads in the nation who cannot understand English enough to consent to a search of his vehicle,? Mujica observed. ?Unfortunately, we have more and more drivers on the road just like him, people who cannot understand road signs, report suspicious activity or interact with local law enforcement. We must ask ourselves why, in a nation with more than 44,000 motor vehicle deaths annually, we are licensing drivers who cannot speak English.? In all, more than 21 million Americans are limited English proficient, more than 3.3 million of who can?t speak English at all.

According to information obtained by U.S. English, New York currently offers its driver?s license exam in 21 languages. ?Every language is worthy of being spoken at home and with friends,? said Mujica, who is fluent in four languages. ?But it is ridiculous that states are licensing drivers to operate vehicles on American roads in languages other than English.

?Instead of the multilingual government approach that puts Americans at risk, we must make a commitment to English. A collective effort to promote a common language will not only be a benefit to the safety of our roads, but to the promise of our future.?

U.S.ENGLISH is the nation's oldest and largest citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States (website: www.usenglish.org). Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S.ENGLISH now has more than 1.8 million members nationwide.

[lainde]

Did a search...Haven't seen this one.

[Diogenesis]

Not a good idea:

It matters not that you had no knowledge of the law
UNLESS YOU DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH or are an ILLEGAL ALIEN.

[yoe]

Try this in some other country and see how fast they throw you in jail. This is the liberal law that will finish off our tattered judicial system.

Insist Congress pass a stiff law that in America in matters of law, only English will be spoken. If a crime has been committed, the person will not be excused because he/she can't speak English. Homeland defense hasn't a chance with incidences like this; anyone can commit a crime and get away with it. The court was wrong!

Another way of looking at this is that some politicians and feel gooders are trying to Balkanize the United States. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen – English only – put the burden on the person visiting this country legally or illegally, not the police, courts, etc,; most other countries use English as their go-between language.

Miqueas Acosta pulled the wool over their liberal eyes with this one, IMHO.

[chatham]

Both the criminal and the Judge should be put in prison in the same cell and the "Judge" can teach the creep english before he is deported.
If the Judge thinks the creep can't be convicted because he doesn't speak English, the "Judge" makes a good case for excluding all persons who don't speak English from immigrating into this country. To do so will create great lawlessness.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

It's unfair that we're being forced to change our entire legal system because of mass, uncontrolled immigration but that's exactly what's happening.

And what's worse those in government have no idea or could care less how much resentment they are causing among the general population when they engage in these type of double standards.

[Budge]

Y'all have to see this!

[nicmarlo]

It tells Americans that lack of English proficiency is a valid excuse for those suspected of criminal activity. Furthermore, it places an undue burden on police officers working to protect our nation.

Absolutely ridiculous!

[Budge]

Don't you just love this part?

Acosta claimed that the drugs, with a street value of $100,000, were not his and that he had only been hired by an acquaintance to drive the van from New York to Philadelphia.

The guy had enough command of our language to explain this...

Unreal!

[sweetliberty]

Now, not only do they get free rein to be here, but a free pass on other crimes they commit as well, as long as they continue to refuse to learn the language. Lovely.

[the invisib1e hand]

be careful not to blame immigrants for idiotic judiciary.

[Dante3]

Anyone who supports illegal aliens is at best soft on crime and identifies with criminals. This goes one insane step fruther.

[nicmarlo]

Oh, but that was probably through a translator! : )

[nicmarlo]

not only do they get free rein to be here, but a free pass on other crimes they commit as well, as long as they continue to refuse to learn the language. Lovely.

So, when a man rapes a girl, his defense, if arrested, can be that he doesn't speak English?

[nicmarlo]

In the state where the judge made this ruling, all other criminals, who don't speak English, will now be able to use this as a defense to get off being convicted of any crimes: raping 5-year-old girls, stealing from businesses, causing deaths via automobile accidents while in a drunken stupor, shooting people.....

[mtbopfuyn]

This is so beyond ridiculous. Delay the guy's pay check and watch how fast he demands it in English. Btdt, if it wasn't so sad it'd be funny.

[lainde]

It's one of those slippery slopes that Scalia keeps trying to pound into the national "brain". He warned us about the Texas sodomy case...And now the polygomists are demanding to be legally married. I hear about sickening cases of incestuous couples wanting their "justice". And of course NAMBLA is just biding their time...

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

The creation of a superior class continues. "..In declining states the leadership intuitively choses the most harmful course of action."-A Great Historian 1888

[Michael81Dus]

It matters not that you had no knowledge of the law UNLESS YOU DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH or are an ILLEGAL ALIEN... or a legal visitor to the country!

[Owen]

The anti immigration crowd are posting their stuff in the wrong place. They should be on black websites, not here. Have the blacks stay home in protest to the Dem party policies. The issue will resonate with blacks because they have so much to lose. Hispanics have surpassed them in numbers as the dominant minority. It will get worse if the demographic shift continues.