Arpaio starts 2-week mandatory English classes for inmates

AZ Central | October 24, 2006

Go directly to jail. Do pass a competency exam.

Non-English-speaking inmates in Maricopa County jails began mandatory English classes on Monday.

At the end of their two-week course, inmates must take a test to see how well they learned about American government, the words to God Bless America and the communication of health and safety needs.

"These inmates happen to be incarcerated in the United States of America and in Maricopa County where I run the jails," Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in a statement. "And we speak English here, not foreign languages."

Classes will last two hours a day. The curriculum comprises the three branches of government, how a bill becomes law, state government, law enforcement and court services, and jailhouse "situational" terminology.

Most students will be native-Spanish speakers. Of the 10,000 prisoners in Maricopa County jails, about 3,000 are Hispanic, including roughly 1,000 undocumented immigrants.

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