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wayneflorida

“Why Aren’t You Speaking English?”

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All governement funtions SHOULD be in english.


Says who? You?

Just a couple questions. Recently, a woman was removed from jury duty because she could not read, write or understand 'English'.

Was that un-fair or wrong to dismiss her?


I have no idea what case you might be talking about, so I don't really have enough to go on, however...

It's wrong to equate having the responsibility to judge someone's testimony and a person's right to be able to express themselves.

Vastly different circumstances.

Besides which, I have no idea from the information you've presented whether or not the court or one of the lawyers dismissed the person by process of voidier. Again, two completely different circumstances. If the court dismissed the juror, that may in fact not be the right thing to do. If a lawyer dismissed the potential juror through the process of voidier, that may be entirely appropriate.

I've been dismissed on two separate occasions by lawyers through the voidier process. In neither case was it inappropriate; it was something the lawyers were simply allowed to do in jury selection.


The case I'm referring to was here in Texas and the judge dismissed the woman and an alternate was used.
The other was meant totally, as hypothetical.
Wouldn't you want all the jurors to be able to understand everything being said during a trial? I know, I would.


Chuck


Right, but will you concede on the point the two are not equivalent? The one actually carries an actual responsibility to a third party whereas the other only carries a potential inelegance in communication?


I can go along with that. I was just looking for an opinion. B|


Chuck

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>We are guaranteed a 'fair' trial by a jury of our peers.

Agreed!

And if the case is in Louisiana in a primarily French-speaking district, that "jury of your peers" would speak primarily French.

>If, a jury member does not understand English, how can they be fair and impartial if,
>they do not understand what is being said?

They cannot - just as someone who does not understand French cannot be fair and impartial if they do not understand the language spoken in a Louisiana court.

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A legitimate question.



Not really. There is no legal requirement to speak English in the US. It might score him some points in certain sectors, but overall it was an inappropriate question to begin with.



It's attitudes like this that cause silly waste of time laws and legislation to be enacted to answer the lack of the all too uncommon "common sense".
----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

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>We are guaranteed a 'fair' trial by a jury of our peers.

Agreed!

And if the case is in Louisiana in a primarily French-speaking district, that "jury of your peers" would speak primarily French.

>If, a jury member does not understand English, how can they be fair and impartial if,
>they do not understand what is being said?

They cannot - just as someone who does not understand French cannot be fair and impartial if they do not understand the language spoken in a Louisiana court.



I'd never heard of court cases being held in french in Louisiana, even when I lived there - do you have any example cases?
Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

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[replyI'm referring to every day court cases. We are guaranteed a 'fair' trial by a jury of our peers. The common language spoken in our courts, to the best of my knowledge is English. If, a jury member does not understand English, how can they be fair and impartial if, they do not understand what is being said?



I understand your point Chuck but is our court system really based on English?
I find it to be based on doublespeak and legaleze.
I doubt many common man english speaking citizens could accurately interpret the law used in *our courts*.
That is why the need for a lawyer(interpreter) is so important when you go to court.

Mastery of the English language won't get you too far in court as most of the laws are a written attempt to confuse those who understand English.
Peace,
Jim B

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I was lucky enough to meet a man and woman who escaped from East Germany as the wall was being constructed.
Their children were naturally German speaking. They FINED their children for speaking German on American streets.
"The American gave us a beautiful place to call home, we honor them by becoming American!"
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Should there then be a requirement that a person has to reach a certain level of proficiency before they have rights or the ability to testify?



or the group that asked the person to testify in the first place needs to provide a certified translator.

don't be so obvious. It's a public hearing. The hearing is conducted in english. The records are kept in english. The testimony needs to be recorded in english.
--
Rob

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A legitimate question.



Not really. There is no legal requirement to speak English in the US. It might score him some points in certain sectors, but overall it was an inappropriate question to begin with.


No, it is not inappropriate to ask

All governement funtions SHOULD be in english.


That would require a proper and error-free English .... :S (at least in such a short senctence, man [:/])

edited to add: 3 errors in 7 words - that's a new high, even for you.

You're doing a disserve to yourself.


edit No. 2: Yes, I know, it's called *disservice* ... :P


odd that our local german is the english grammar nazi. (and no, my shift key isn't stuck)
--
Rob

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The ability to spell and use good grammer when typing does not correlate to being a good person or treating others with respect and dignity.

There are highly educated snobs who are a POS and there are illiterates who are the same way.

Nobody has a reason to be so dismissive of others unless they have been actually been given a reason to.

So do unto others, unless you like enjoy being an asshole.

I think these are decent principals.

Heck I am even nice to dream dancer even though we disagree on nearly everything he posts.

His actions are not something I object to, his words I may not disagree with but he is honest I believe in his thoughts.

There is another poster that I think is a worthless POS.

I would not piss on if he was on fire, so I refrain from debating him nor dignifying his questions with an answer.

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Nobody has a reason to be so dismissive of others unless they have been actually been given a reason to.

...

There is another poster that I think is a worthless POS.

I would not piss on if he was on fire, so I refrain from debating him nor dignifying his questions with an answer.



Contradicting yourself in a single post - bravo, truly impressive.

That person you're talking about must have really hurt you though.
Coreece: "You sound like some skinheads I know, but your prejudice is with Christians, not niggers..."

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>We are guaranteed a 'fair' trial by a jury of our peers.

Agreed!

And if the case is in Louisiana in a primarily French-speaking district, that "jury of your peers" would speak primarily French.

>If, a jury member does not understand English, how can they be fair and impartial if,
>they do not understand what is being said?

They cannot - just as someone who does not understand French cannot be fair and impartial if they do not understand the language spoken in a Louisiana court.



I'd never heard of court cases being held in french in Louisiana, even when I lived there - do you have any example cases?



I was kinda curious about that, myself. In all my years, I've never read or heard of a court case held in this country, using any other language than English.


Chuck

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Heck I am even nice to dream dancer...

There is another poster that I think is a worthless POS.

I would not piss on if he was on fire,



If that's what you think is being nice then I can't imagine what you've read that you've thought was nasty!
Do you want to have an ideagasm?

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It's wrong to equate having the responsibility to judge someone's testimony and a person's right to be able to express themselves.



Does not seem to be the case for you on this board.
"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

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All governement funtions SHOULD be in english.



Says who? You?



Yep!



It's lucky for you that good grammar and spelling aren't requirements.



And its lucky for you that being polite with common sense and tolerance are not requirements
"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

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All governement funtions SHOULD be in english.



Says who? You?


Yep!


It's lucky for you that good grammar and spelling aren't requirements.


And its lucky for you that being polite with common sense and tolerance are not requirements


Yeah, but that'd still be one strike for him and two for you;)
Do you want to have an ideagasm?

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To be honest - I can only talk about Germany but suspect it is quite similar in the US - most people born here have problems understanding the bureaucratic form of German with its long, wound, complicated and hardly self-evident phrases and vocabulary that is used in official forms such as tax papers, claim forms and, of course, everything to do with the law.
So seen, most of the people who demand that immigrants have to be fluent in front of a Congressional hearing are hypocrites. They could demand anyone has to fill out their tax papers without help as well :) But again, I write from a distance and can only reflect Joe Sixpack's railing about "them furreigners"

The sky is not the limit. The ground is.

The Society of Skydiving Ducks

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They FINED their children for speaking German on American streets.


Well, isn't THAT something typically German? :P

What's wrong with raising your kids bilingually? I've seen several Anglo-German couples in Ireland and England who spoke German (surprisingly most often mum) and Englis (most often dad) in public. I dunno if any of them fled East Germany, but hey, gratitude should have its limits B|
The sky is not the limit. The ground is.

The Society of Skydiving Ducks

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"Out of many, one"
Too many candy ass liberal pussies focus on protecting the concept of 'many' when common sense dictates that the becoming 'one' is where the strength of the the nation is derived. So yes, after that much time, it is a very legitimate question.
You are only as strong as the prey you devour

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....
odd that our local german is the english grammar nazi. (and no, my shift key isn't stuck)



Who is *our*?

What is *local*? South Africa, North America ... or what?

What is a *Nazi* nowadays? Especially an "English grammar Nazi"?"

No, I know your shift key is not stuck, I've seen other posts of you. Seems to be a game you play. Have fun, dear.

;)

dudeist skydiver # 3105

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>What is a *Nazi* nowadays?

It is a pejorative used to anger others, used often when the original poster has run out of arguments and wishes the argument to become emotional.



You can always rely on "Godwin's Law" to liven up the internet. :)


Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

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I'm all for making English the primary language, but considering there's tens of millions of native born americans in the southeast that still can't speak the language after living here for up to 70 years. I don't think expecting immigrants to learn the language after being here a few years is a realistic expectation.



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"Out of many, one"
Too many candy ass liberal pussies focus on protecting the concept of 'many' when common sense dictates that the becoming 'one' is where the strength of the the nation is derived. So yes, after that much time, it is a very legitimate question.



Too many revisionist history right wingers twist the intent of our founding fathers in pathetic attempts to make some sort of point, when in fact they appear not to have a clue what they're talking about.

"E Pluribus Unum" was included on the Great Seal of the United States in reference to the states forming one country.

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The motto E Pluribus Unum, emblazoned
across the scroll and clenched in the eagle’s
beak, expresses the union of the 13 States.


Source;http://www.state.gov/www/publications/great_seal.pdf, page 8.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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