[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[dennisw]

Great post

[TKDietz]

This article is full of bull. Read the actual opinion rendered by the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. The appeals court barely considered that Acosta did not speak English. Pennsylvania law says that consent to search must be a "product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice--not the result of of duress or coercion, express or implied, or a will overborne." The court looked other cases where the suspects were informed that they had the right to refuse consent to the search. In this case they said there was nothing to indicate that Acosta had any idea he could refuse the search. He was being detained an had been for something like 45 minutes. There were several police cars there. The police were keeping his insurance and registration documents. There was nothing there to indicate that he was free to go. He had not been advised of his Miranda rights prior to the search. The court made very little mention of the fact that he did not speak very much English and if anything only considered it as one small factor in the totality of the circumstances.

In most states the way these vehicle stops work is that they ask you for consent to search and if you say no they just run the dogs around your car and when the dogs alert (or when the officer says the dog alerts) they have probable cause to search without consent. There have been various steps taken by various courts to try to keep some restraints on police under these circumstances because after all, what the police are doing here is making an end around the 4th Amendment prohibition against warrantless searches. So to minimize the intrusion, courts have been doing things like limiting the amount of time a person can be forced to wait for the dogs to get here and it appears that in Pennsylvania now they are pressuring the police to at least advise people that they have the right actually to refuse consent, and to someone standing there with several cops breathing down his neck ordering him to do this and that it must not feel like he has many rights.

Whoever wrote the article that is the subject of this thread is not a very honest person. There are plenty of legitimate things to complain about when it comes to aliens. There is absolutely no need to make things up and misrepresent the truth.

If anyone wants to read the court's opinion they may find it here: http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/Superior/out/e02004_02.pdf