Professor arrested for not speaking English

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • CWSmith
    New Hampshire
    • Nov 2008
    • 44020

    Professor arrested for not speaking English

    I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this:

    Warrant issued for Hawaii prof after he refuses to speak English

    A bench warrant was issued for the arrest of a University of Hawaii professor on Wednesday — even though he was in the courtroom at the time.

    The unusual exchange took place in a Wailuku courtroom when Samuel Kaleikoa Kaeo spoke in the Hawaiian language instead of English when he addressed the judge.


    Judge Blaine Kobayshi said he couldn't understand Kaeo and issued a warrant for his arrest, saying "the court is unable to get a definitive determination for the record that the defendant seated in court is Mr. Samuel Kaeo," according to Hawaii News Now.


    The warrant was dropped on Thursday. The Judiciary said it will be reviewing policies for providing Hawaiian language interpreters.

    Kaeo said he appeared before the same judge repeatedly and complained that "it was about the fact that I was speaking Hawaiian that he didn't like."
    "Where you live in the world should not determine whether you live in the world." - Bono

    "Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip." - Will Rogers

    "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others." - Groucho Marx
  • S.V. Airlie
    Ancient Mariner
    • Dec 2006
    • 63914

    #2
    Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

    English is NOT the official language of the USA! It doesn't have one!

    Comment

    • Keith Wilson
      Trying to be reasonable
      • Oct 1999
      • 64122

      #3
      Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

      Hawaii has a population of about a million and a half. There are maybe 24,000 fluent speakers of Hawaiian, about 1.6% of the population. If the guy spoke English, which I presume he did, he was just being an *ss. Is there anyone who speaks Hawaiian who doesn't also speak English?
      "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations,
      for nature cannot be fooled."

      Richard Feynman

      Comment

      • ishmael
        Banned
        • Jun 2000
        • 23518

        #4
        Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

        ^Yep to Keith.

        One thing you NEVER do when in legal trouble is p*** off the judge! Assuming this professor, an educated man, speaks English, I'd offer my non-professional opinion that he deserved a contempt citation.

        Comment

        • hikingchrs
          Senior Member
          • Feb 2004
          • 688

          #5
          Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

          Originally posted by S.V. Airlie
          English is NOT the official language of the USA! It doesn't have one!
          Has nothing to do with this since it was a state court. Hawaiian has been spoken there in court long before english.

          Comment

          • Canoeyawl
            .
            • Jun 2003
            • 37705

            #6
            Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

            Asserting his right to an impartial trial. (This is likely going to make the judge a fool, except among white republicans)

            Good on him!

            Comment

            • SKIP KILPATRICK
              Senior Member
              • Jan 2013
              • 13573

              #7
              Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

              Too me, it's a clear case of contempt of court.

              this is gobbledygook: "I showed up," Kaeo told reporters, according to Hawaii News Now. "I dealt with this judge maybe 15 times before. So, obviously, it had nothing to do with they couldn't recognize me. You see what the issue was? It wasn't about me. It was about the fact that I was speaking Hawaiian. But these small obstacles are the kinds of things we overcome."
              Skip

              ---This post is delivered with righteous passion and with a solemn southern directness --
              ...........fighting against the deliberate polarization of politics...

              Comment

              • Jim Bow
                Normcore
                • Jul 2008
                • 24003

                #8
                Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

                Originally posted by ishmael
                ^Yep to Keith.
                I was told that Hawaiian is the only language among the small population on Niihau.
                “Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles and see the world is moving" - Elizabeth Cady Stanton

                Comment

                • Jim Bow
                  Normcore
                  • Jul 2008
                  • 24003

                  #9
                  Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

                  Here's the details. It's far more interesting than the msn condensed version.

                  Hawaii News Now (KGMB/KHNL) is Hawaii's source for breaking news, severe weather forecasts and traffic updates.
                  “Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles and see the world is moving" - Elizabeth Cady Stanton

                  Comment

                  • George Jung
                    Senior Member
                    • Jan 2004
                    • 31057

                    #10
                    Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

                    Keith nailed it.
                    There's a lot of things they didn't tell me when I signed on with this outfit....

                    Comment

                    • Keith Wilson
                      Trying to be reasonable
                      • Oct 1999
                      • 64122

                      #11
                      Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

                      Originally posted by Jim Bow
                      I was told that Hawaiian is the only language among the small population on Niihau.
                      Could be. But he's fluent in English, according to the news report.
                      "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations,
                      for nature cannot be fooled."

                      Richard Feynman

                      Comment

                      • CWSmith
                        New Hampshire
                        • Nov 2008
                        • 44020

                        #12
                        Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

                        It's clear that he was messing with the judge. It's also clear that the court dropped the arrest and is evaluating its practices.

                        In other words, he got inside the judges head and he won (at some level). As I said, I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this, but it seems to me that as a society we go from talk to arrest (or shoot) very quickly. There should be a middle ground and we need to explore it more.
                        "Where you live in the world should not determine whether you live in the world." - Bono

                        "Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip." - Will Rogers

                        "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others." - Groucho Marx

                        Comment

                        • Canoeyawl
                          .
                          • Jun 2003
                          • 37705

                          #13
                          Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

                          I like it. A strong political move.
                          He is adding a larger voice to a protest (that may or may not be wrong) and the courts are are trying to silence him. Free speech is the rule. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

                          The charges in this "crime" are reminiscent of charges against civil rights protesters in the early 1960's. It should go on to a higher court.

                          "He is facing disorderly conduct, obstructing a sidewalk, and obedience to police officers charges stemming from the August protest. All three charges are petty misdemeanors".

                          Comment

                          • bobbys
                            Senior Member
                            • Jun 2009
                            • 30711

                            #14
                            Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

                            I worked bridge union carpentry with a hawaiian .

                            I could not understand him but to be fair he could not understand jersey...

                            They called us the odd couple.

                            First time i ate sushi and the first time he ate elk........yes?.

                            He always ended with a ....yes..?

                            Comment

                            • Keith Wilson
                              Trying to be reasonable
                              • Oct 1999
                              • 64122

                              #15
                              Re: Professor arrested for not speaking English

                              Charging him with a crime may be excessive. Refusing to speak English when one is fluent in the language, and insisting on speaking an almost-extinct language which only 1.6% of the people in Hawaii understand - that's mostly just obnoxious.
                              "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations,
                              for nature cannot be fooled."

                              Richard Feynman

                              Comment

                              Working...