Fernando Antonio Cruz was arrested and sent to the Prince William jail back on October 15 with a blood-alcohol level at .175, twice more than the legal limit, for being drunk in a public place and fighting with another man.
On December 12, the wounded man refused to show up for court and the case was dismissed. Normally, that would've been the end of it and Cruz would be free to go.
" normally, jail officials would have brought Cruz to the courthouse for the hearing, in the court clerk would have issued a release order for him. He could have walked into freedom that day. "
but that didn't happen.
" "It seems like there was a breakdown on a couple of levels," said Tawny G. Hays, clerk of the General District Court.
Cruz had been forgotten. Like many non-English speaking immigrants, he has become invisible inside the criminal justice system.
From the beginning, his last name was entered as "Antonio Cruz" in court documents and as "Cruz" in jail records -- a problem that both jail and court officials say often arises with Hispanic names that tend to be long and include an also-known-as."
This was not an isolated case. In March, a Guatemalan immigrant labor, Ramiro Games, 46, was charged with a misdemeanor in Prince George's County and was released after spending nearly 6 months in jail without going to trial. because he didn't speak any English, he was unable to alert anyone that his case had not been heard.
" Need for Spanish speakers
On a typical morning, court clerk Kerry Kaiser bounces between Spanish and English at least once every few minutes. "Archives," she tells one man. " Archivo ," she tells another. "
hat tip to Laura for the article
obviously there was no excuse for this type of flaw in the jail system... who do you blame? You blame the immigrant for not being able to speak the language of the land? Or do you blame the jail system for not having enough people that speak the language of their inmates?
On immigration side... whether you are visiting or moving to another country, it is always a good idea to know a little of the language where you're going to visit.
In defense of the jail... while I do not condone the fact that they lost a prisoner, it is also not logistically feasible to have a representative on staff for every language that might be within the system. E.g. can you provide someone for every language from from Spanish to Klingon???
6 comments:
Perhaps a few "English/Spanish" dictionaries would be useful.
Were these guys legally in the US or here illegally? That point was conveniently left out of the equation. That they had no interpreter is regrettable, and that Cruz's name was entered into the records wrongly is a bit unconscionable. But, if they were here illegally then I am having a problem feeling too sorry for them.
I noticed that was one point that the article left out was their immigration status
And it isn't just the jails. My daughter was waiting for her turn at the emergency room and watched a woman, who couldn't speak English, with 5 kids trying to communicate with a nurse. The frustrated nurse finally asked her if she had gotten a Social Security number yet. The woman understood THAT question and answered in the negative. Now, if it was a real emergency, someone could have died and that is wrong. If it was NOT an emergency, then it is an entirely different problem. Was she in the ER because a regular Dr's office wouldn't see her? Is it because a hospital generally won't refuse service to anyone no matter what their status? Either way, we will foot the bill. If the hospital absorbs the cost, they raise their rates to compensate. If they don't absorb the cost and ask for relief from the Fed. Gov't, it still costs us, the tax payers. I know we are paying for jail time. I figure since English classes are free, there is no excuse for these events to keep occurring.
Jeff: I really don't think that English?Spanish dictionaries would be of any help. The Mexicans, as a rule, speak their language so rapildly that it would be extremely hard to keep up with them while trying to find the right words in the dictionaries.
If said Mexicans, or other Latinos, are here illegally, the proper response would be to gather them up and haul their sorry butts back to the border.
Jeff: I really don't think that English?Spanish dictionaries would be of any help. The Mexicans, as a rule, speak their language so rapildly that it would be extremely hard to keep up with them while trying to find the right words in the dictionaries.
If said Mexicans, or other Latinos, are here illegally, the proper response would be to gather them up and haul their sorry butts back to the border.
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