Man ordered to speak English to daughter

[Francis M Hult]

>
> http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2003/10/14/spanish/index.html
>
> Man ordered to speak English to daughter
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - -
> By Jean Ortiz
>
> Oct. 14, 2003  |  PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) -- A Hispanic man who spoke to his
> 5-year-old daughter in Spanish has been ordered to use primarily English
> around the girl as a condition of his visitation rights.
>
> Sarpy County Judge Ronald E. Reagan said the child does not understand
> Spanish because she only met her father, Eloy Amador, seven months ago.
>
>
> Amador, who was released from jail after serving a five-year sentence for
> drug possession, told the judge that he spoke Spanish to the girl to share
> his culture, not to force a language on her.
>
> ``I don't come to her speaking in Spanish, but there are times where I try
> to teach her what hair is in Spanish, what hand is, stuff like that,''
> Amador said during a Sept. 15 hearing on visitation.
>
>
> The judge did not oppose such instruction, but said the rest of the
> communication should be in English for the sake of the girl's education.
>
> ``The principal form of communication during the periods of visitation is
> going to be English,'' Reagan said. ``That does not mean that you can't
> instruct and teach her the Hispanic language.''
>
> The ruling was a victory for the girl's mother, Michaela Krayneski, who
> requested that Amador speak English as a condition of visitation.
>
> Calls to Krayneski's lawyer were not returned Tuesday.
>
> Amador's attorney, John Allen Sellers, said he was surprised that the judge
> ``would consider a restraint such as this based on racial or cultural
> differences of the parents.''
>