by Ray Newman, radio and television commentator, attorney, educator, author

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

FRISPLINUS YOU , FRIEND

A New Jersey court just ruled that a police officer who stops a driver suspecting he is DUI, must advise the driver that there will be penalties if he does not consent to a breathalyzer test...in a language the driver understands. If the officer does not speak the driver's language, he must take the driver to the police station, where the warning about penalties may be available in the driver's language. If not, the driver must be released.

Of course, the time it takes to get to the police station can affect (lower) the driver's alcohol/blood level content. And, oh yes, there are over 150 languages spoken in New Jersey. There are over 300 languages spoken in the U.S.! Miranda rights, too, must be understandable. And, if a driver speaks one language fluently, and "some" English, how and when and by whom will he or she be tested to see if he knows enough English to "understand" the warning.

Wanna see a "Right Turn on Red Light Permitted" sign in hundreds of languages? And wait 10 minutes while somebody finds a language he understands? I'll bet you he understands the honking and fingers he gets. They are universal. And if a driver can't read and understand English, what's he doing driving on our roads in the first place, unable to read signs, and endangering other drivers?

For 82% of American residents, English is their native language. 96% speak English well, or better. Time to do what should have been done hundreds of years ago: declare English to be our native language, to be used in all official matters. And if anyone says that that is racial discrimination, ha, I am going to say this to him: "Gergund frisplinus yunderon" and laugh all the way home.

Don't know what that means? It's Ytsvekian.

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