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AdamFoss_2016-_一名检察官眼中更好的司法系统_
The following are my opinions, and do not reflect the opinions or policies of any particular prosecutor 's office. 下面我将陈述我的观点, 这些都是我的个人看法, 并不代表任何检察机关。
reflect:v.反映;映出(影像);反射;表明,表达; policies:n.政策;方针;原则;为人之道;保险单(policy的复数) prosecutor:n.检察官;公诉人;[法]起诉人;实行者;
(Laughter) （笑声）
I am a prosecutor. 我是一名检察官。
I believe in law and order. 我相信法律和秩序。
I am the adopted son of a police officer , a Marine and a hairdresser . 我的养父是警官、海军陆战队员,养母是一名美发师。
adopted:adj.被收养的;被采用的;v.采用;接受;(adopt的过去式和过去分词); police officer:n.警官;警察;警务人员; Marine:adj.海的;海产的;海生的;海船的;n.(尤指美国或英国皇家)海军陆战队士兵; hairdresser:n.美发师;
I believe in accountability and that we should all be safe in our communities . 我相信责任感, 也相信我们应该在社区中享有安全。
accountability:n.有义务;有责任;可说明性; communities:n.社区;社会;团体;共有(community的复数)
I love my job and the people that do it. 我爱我的工作 也爱我的同行们。
I just think that it's our responsibility to do it better. 我只是觉得我们有责任 把工作做得更好。
By a show of hands, how many of you, by the age of 25, had either acted up in school, went somewhere you were specifically told to stay out of, or drank alcohol before your legal age? 你们中间, 有谁在25岁的时候, 在学校调过皮, 干过一些明令禁止的事儿, 或者在未成年的时候喝过酒？举一下手。
specifically:adv.特别地;明确地; alcohol:n.酒精;乙醇;含酒精饮料; legal:adj.法律的;合法的;法定的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
All right. 好的。
How many of you shoplifted , tried an illegal drug or got into a physical fight -- yes, even with a sibling ? 那么有谁偷过东西, 试过违禁药品 或者打过架, 对,即使跟兄弟姐妹也算。
shoplifted:在商店偷窃(shoplift的过去式和过去分词); illegal:adj.不合法的;非法的;n.非法移民;非法劳工; physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; sibling:n.兄弟姊妹;民族成员;
Now, how many of you ever spent one day in jail for any of those decisions? 有谁因为刚才说的这些事儿 在监狱待过哪怕一天？
jail:n.监狱;监牢;拘留所;v.监禁;下狱;
How many of you sitting here today think that you're a danger to society or should be defined by those actions of youthful indiscretion ? 那么,刚刚举手的各位 你们是觉得自己对社会是危险的？ 还是认为那只是年轻人的少不更事？
defined:adj.有定义的,确定的; v.使明确; youthful:adj.年轻的; indiscretion:n.不慎的言行;不检点的言行;轻率;鲁莽;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Point taken. 好吧,我懂了。
When we talk about criminal justice reform , we often focus on a few things, and that's what I want to talk to you about today. 当我们谈论刑事司法改革时, 我们常常关注几件事, 这正是我今天要讲的。
justice:n.公平;公正;司法制度;审判; reform:v.改革;改进;改良;(使)悔改;n.改革;改良;改善;
But first I'm going to -- since you shared with me, 但首先我要说的是——既然你们都实话实说了,
I'm going to give you a confession on my part. 我也要实话实说。
confession:n.忏悔,告解;供认;
I went to law school to make money. 是为了多挣些钱。
I had no interest in being a public servant, 当时,我对当公务员没兴趣,
I had no interest in criminal law, and I definitely didn't think that I would ever be a prosecutor. 也不喜欢刑法, 更没想过会成为检察官。
definitely:adv.清楚地,当然;明确地,肯定地;
Near the end of my first year of law school, I got an internship in the Roxbury Division of Boston Municipal Court. 在法学院第一年临近结束时,我得到了一个实习机会 是在波士顿市法院罗克斯伯里分院。
internship:n.实习生;(美)实习期;实习医师职位; Division:n.师;分配;分开;分歧; Boston:n.波士顿(美国城市); Municipal:adj.市政的,市的;地方自治的;
I knew of Roxbury as an impoverished neighborhood in Boston, plagued by gun violence and drug crime. 我知道罗克斯伯里是波士顿的一个贫困社区, 那里枪支泛滥,毒品成灾。
impoverished:adj.穷困的;用尽了的,无创造性的;v.使贫困(impoverish的过去分词); neighborhood:n.附近;地区;街坊;adj.附近的; plagued:v.困扰(plague的过去分词);折磨; violence:n.暴力;侵犯;激烈;歪曲;
My life and my legal career changed the first day of that internship. 从我实习的第一天起,我的人生和法律道路就此改变。
career:n.职业;事业;生涯;经历;
I walked into a courtroom , and I saw an auditorium of people who, one by one , would approach the front of that courtroom to say two words and two words only: "Not guilty." 我走进法庭,看见满屋子的人, 他们一个个走到法庭前面, 说的都是同样的两个字: “无罪。”
courtroom:n.法庭;审判室; auditorium:n.礼堂,会堂;观众席; one by one:一个接一个; approach:n.方法;路径;v.接近;建议;着手处理;
They were predominately black and brown. 这些人大部分是黑人或者棕色人种。
predominately:adv.占优势地;有影响力地;更大量地;占绝大多数地;
And then a judge, a defense attorney and a prosecutor would make life-altering decisions about that person without their input . 之后法官、辩护律师和检察官, 可能要在并不了解他们的前提下,做出改变这些人一生的决定。
life-altering:改变生活的;改变人生的; input:n.投入; v.把(数据等)输入计算机;
They were predominately white. 而他们大部分是白人。
As each person, one by one, approached the front of that courtroom, 看着这些人一个个走上法庭,
approached:v.走近;临近;探讨;建议;(approach的过去分词和过去式)
I couldn't stop but think: 我禁不住想:
How did they get here? 他们怎么会落到这步田地？
I wanted to know their stories. 我想了解他们的故事。
And as the prosecutor read the facts of each case, 作为检察官,我翻阅了每一个案子的卷宗,
I was thinking to myself, we could have predicted that. 我对自己说, 我们本可以预见这一切,
predicted:v.预言;预告;预报;(predict的过去分词和过去式)
That seems so preventable ... 可以避免这一切……
preventable:adj.可预防的;可阻止的;可防止的;
not because I was an expert in criminal law, but because it was common sense . 我这么想并不是因为我是刑法专家, 而是因为这是常识。
common sense:adj.常识的;有生活经验得来的;
Over the course of the internship, 通过这次实习,
I began to recognize people in the auditorium, not because they were criminal masterminds but because they were coming to us for help and we were sending them out without any. 我开始审视这些法庭上的人, 并不因为他们是犯罪专家, 而是因为他们来找我们寻求帮助, 我们什么也不做,直接打发走。
recognize:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到; masterminds:n.聪明人(mastermind的复数);v.巧妙地策划(mastermind的三单形式);
My second year of law school I worked as a paralegal for a defense attorney, and in that experience I met many young men accused of murder. 我在法学院的第二年,给一位辩护律师当助手, 在这期间我遇到了许多被控谋杀的年轻人。
paralegal:n.律师助理;adj.辅助律师业务的; accused:v.控告;控诉;谴责;(accuse的过去分词和过去式)
Even in our "worst," I saw human stories. 即使是这种重犯,我觉得他们也是有苦衷的。
And they all contained childhood trauma , victimization , poverty , loss, disengagement from school, early interaction with the police and the criminal justice system, all leading to a seat in a courtroom. 他们的童年都很悲惨, 被虐待,贫困,失去亲人, 缺乏教育, 很早就被警察抓过,进入过司法程序, 所有这一切,最后导致他们站上法庭。
childhood:n.童年;幼年;孩童时期 trauma:n.[外科]创伤(由心理创伤造成精神上的异常);外伤; victimization:n.牺牲;欺骗; poverty:n.贫困;困难;缺少;低劣; disengagement:n.脱离;分开; interaction:n.[计]交互,相互作用;相互交流;干扰;
Those convicted of murder were condemned to die in prison, and it was during those meetings with those men that I couldn't fathom why we would spend so much money 这些被控谋杀的人最后被判终身监禁, 有一件事情我没有想明白, 为什么我们要花这么多钱
convicted:v.定罪;宣判…有罪;(convict的过去式和过去分词) condemned:adj.已被定罪的;被责难的; fathom:vt.看穿;彻底了解;测量…的深度;n.英寻(测量水深的长度单位);
to keep this one person in jail for the next 80 years when we could have reinvested it up front, and perhaps prevented the whole thing from happening in the first place . 把这个人关在监狱里,长达80年, 而不是在最开始就善加利用这笔钱, 这样也许能从根本上阻止罪行的发生。
reinvested:vt.再投资于;再授给;vi.再投资; in the first place:首先;起初;
(Applause) （掌声）
My third year of law school, 在法学院的第三年,
I defended people accused of small street crimes, mostly mentally ill, mostly homeless, mostly drug-addicted , all in need of help. 我为那些被控街头犯罪的人辩护, 大部分都有精神疾病, 大部分无家可归, 大部分有毒瘾, 全都需要帮助。
mentally:adv.精神上,智力上;心理上; drug-addicted:吸毒上瘾的;吸毒成瘾的;
They would come to us, and we would send them away without that help. 他们来寻求帮助, 我们什么也不做,直接打发走。
They were in need of our assistance. 他们需要我们的协助。
But we weren't giving them any. 而我们并没有提供。
Prosecuted , adjudged and defended by people who knew nothing about them. 检察官,法官,辩护律师, 对他们一无所知。
Prosecuted:v.起诉;控告;检举;(prosecute的过去式和过去分词) adjudged:v.判定(adjudge的过去分词形式);
The staggering inefficiency is what drove me to criminal justice work. 刑事审判工作效率低下,我想从中改变它。
staggering:adj.惊人的; v.蹒跚; (stagger的现在分词) inefficiency:n.效率低;无效率;无能;
The unfairness of it all made me want to be a defender . 而其中的不公正让我想当一名保护者。
unfairness:n.不公平,不公正;不正当; defender:n.防卫者,守卫者;辩护者;拥护者;卫冕者;
The power dynamic that I came to understand made me become a prosecutor. 我看到了检察官强大的力量, 因此我选择成为检察官。
dynamic:n.动力; adj.充满活力的;
I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about the problem. 我不想花太多时间来陈述存在的问题。
We know the criminal justice system needs reform, we know there are 2.3 million people in American jails and prisons, making us the most incarcerated nation on the planet. 众所周知,刑事审判系统需要改革, 我们知道美国的监狱里关押了230万人, 数量排世界第一。
jails:n.监狱;监牢;拘留所;vt.监禁;下狱; incarcerated:v.监禁;关押;禁闭;(incarcerate的过去式和过去分词)
We know there's another seven million people on probation or parole , we know that the criminal justice system disproportionately affects people of color, particularly poor people of color. 我们知道还有700万人在缓刑期或者假释, 我们知道刑事审判系统 对于有色人种不公平, 尤其是那些贫困的有色人种。
probation:n.试用;缓刑;查验; parole:n.语言;誓言,诺言;释放宣言;v.有条件释放,假释;使假释出狱; disproportionately:adv.不成比例地; particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地;
And we know there are system failures happening everywhere that bring people to our courtrooms . 我们明白,由于刑法系统不完善, 才会有许多人来法庭（寻求帮助）。
courtrooms:n.法庭;审判室;
But what we do not discuss is how ill-equipped our prosecutors are to receive them. 但我们没有意识到的是, 我们的检察官们没有足够的能力来帮助他们。
ill-equipped:adj.装备不良的; prosecutors:n.检查官;告发者(prosecutor的复数);
When we talk about criminal justice reform, we, as a society, focus on three things. 我们讨论刑事审判改革的时候, 全社会只关注三件事。
We complain , we tweet, we protest about the police, about sentencing laws and about prison. 我们投诉、发帖、抗议, 矛头对准的是警察、法律 和监狱。
complain:v.投诉;发牢骚;诉说; protest:n.抗议;抗议书(或行动);反对;v.(公开)反对;抗议;申辩;
We rarely , if ever, talk about the prosecutor. 我们几乎从来不会找检察官的茬。
rarely:adv.很少地;难得;罕有地;
In the fall of 2009, a young man was arrested by the Boston Police Department . 2009年秋天, 一个小伙子被波士顿警察局逮捕。
Police Department:n.(美国城市中的)警察局;
He was 18 years old, he was African American and he was a senior at a local public school . 他是一名18岁的非裔美国人, 在当地一所公立学校上高三。
African American:非洲裔美国人(指美国黑人); senior:adj.大;级别(或地位)高的;成人的;高级水平的;n.上级;上司;较…年长的人; public school:(美国和苏格兰的初等或中等的)公立中小学;寄宿学校;
He had his sights set on college but his part-time, minimum-wage job wasn't providing the financial opportunity he needed to enroll in school. 他的目标是考上大学 但他那份兼职、低薪的工作,
financial:adj.金融的;财政的,财务的; enroll:vt.登记;使加入;把...记入名册;使入伍;vi.参加;登记;注册;记入名册;
In a series of bad decisions, he stole 30 laptops from a store and sold them on the Internet. 他做出了一系列错误的决定, 从一家店里偷走了30台笔记本电脑并在网上出售。
series:n.系列,连续;[电]串联;级数;丛书; laptops:n.便携式电脑;笔记本电脑;(laptop的复数)
This led to his arrest and a criminal complaint of 30 felony charges. 这导致他被逮捕 并被控30项重罪。
complaint:n.抱怨;投诉;控告;不满; felony:n.重罪;
The potential jail time he faced is what stressed Christopher out the most. 未来的牢狱之灾让克里斯托弗紧张不已。
potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的;
But what he had little understanding of was the impact a criminal record would have on his future. 但他没有意识到的是, 这项犯罪记录会对他的未来造成多大的影响。
impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响;
I was standing in arraignments that day when Christopher's case came across my desk. 是否传讯克里斯托弗 让我左右为难。
arraignments:n.传讯;提审;提讯;(arraignment的复数)
And at the risk of sounding dramatic , in that moment, 这么说可能有点矫情,但在当时的情况下,
at the risk of:冒着…的危险; dramatic:adj.突然的;巨大的;令人吃惊的;激动人心的;
I had Christopher's life in my hands. 克里斯托弗的命运就掌握在我手里。
I was 29 years old, a brand-new prosecutor, and I had little appreciation for how the decisions I would make would impact Christopher's life. 当时我29岁,刚刚当上检察官, 对于我所做的决定将如何影响克里斯托弗的人生 还没什么认识。
brand-new:adj.崭新的;最近获得的; appreciation:n.升值;欣赏;感谢;增值;
Christopher's case was a serious one and it needed to be dealt with as such, but I didn't think branding him a felon for the rest of his life was the right answer. 克里斯托弗的案子很重要, 需要严肃对待, 但我不觉得让他下半辈子一直被扣着罪犯的帽子 是正确的解决之道。
branding:n.品牌化,品牌术;v.在…上加商标;使显得独一无二(brand的现在分词);
For the most part , prosecutors step onto the job with little appreciation of the impact of our decisions, regardless of our intent . 大部分检察官,在刚入行的时候, 对自己的决定能产生多大的影响,往往认识不够, 尽管我们的出发点是好的。
For the most part:adv.在极大程度上,多半; regardless:adj.不管的; v.不顾后果地; intent:n.意图;目的;含义;adj.专心的;急切的;坚决的;
Despite our broad discretion, we learn to avoid risk at all cost, rendering our discretion basically useless. 尽管我们有很大的自主权, 但是我们学的是尽量规避风险, 这让我们的自主权 形同虚设。
Despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱; rendering:n.演奏;扮演;表演;翻译作品;v.使成为;给予;提供;回报;(render的现在分词) basically:adv.主要地,基本上;
History has conditioned us to believe that somehow , the criminal justice system brings about accountability and improves public safety, despite evidence to the contrary . 我们已经习惯性地去相信, 刑事司法系统会增强（人们的）责任感 改善公共安全, 尽管事实可能正好相反。
somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地; improves:v.改进;改善;(improve的第三人称单数) evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明; to the contrary:相反;
We're judged internally and externally by our convictions and our trial wins, so prosecutors aren't really incentivized to be creative at our case dispositions , or to take risks on people we might not otherwise. 无论圈内圈外,评价我们的标准就是是否定罪和胜诉 因此检察官并没有动力, 对不同的案子来具体问题具体分析, 或者冒险去相信人们。
internally:adv.内部地;国内地;内在地; externally:adv.外部地;外表上,外形上; convictions:n.判罪;定罪;坚定的看法(或信念);坚信;肯定;(conviction的复数) incentivized:v.对…实行物质刺激;(incentivize的过去式和过去分词) creative:adj.创造性的; dispositions:n.[心理]性情;处理;布置;配置情况(disposition的复数形式);
We stick to an outdated method, counterproductive to achieving the very goal that we all want, and that's safer communities. 我们还抱着过时的方法不放, 想达成我们的目标,让我们的社区更安全, 但往往事与愿违。
outdated:adj.过时的;旧式的;v.使过时(outdate的过去式和过去分词); counterproductive:adj.反生产的;使达不到预期目标的;
Yet most prosecutors standing in my space would have arraigned Christopher. 我想如果处在我的位置,大多数检察官会传讯克里斯托弗。
arraigned:v.提讯;提审;控告;(arraign的过去分词和过去式)
They have little appreciation for what we can do. 他们对自己的能力知之甚少。
Arraigning Christopher would give him a criminal record, making it harder for him to get a job, setting in motion a cycle that defines the failing criminal justice system today. 传讯克里斯托弗会让他背上犯罪记录, 他会很难找到工作, 这样就形成了一个恶性循环 正好证明如今的刑事司法系统有多失败。
Arraigning:vt.传讯,控告;责难,指责; motion:n.动作;移动;手势;请求;意向;议案;v.运动;打手势; defines:v.阐明;明确;界定;画出…的线条;描出…的外形(define的第三人称单数)
With a criminal record and without a job, 有犯罪记录,没有工作,
Christopher would be unable to find employment , education or stable housing. 克里斯托弗不可能养活自己,更别说上学和买房子。
employment:n.使用;职业;雇用; stable:n.马厩;牛棚;adj.稳定的;牢固的;坚定的;vi.被关在马厩;赶入马房;
Without those protective factors in his life, 没有这些生活保障,
protective:adj.防护的;关切保护的;保护贸易的; factors:n.因素(factor的复数); v.做代理商;
Christopher would be more likely to commit further, more serious crime. 克里斯托弗很可能会在犯罪的道路上越走越远。
commit:v.犯(罪等);干(坏事等);[法]提(审);判处;
The more contact Christopher had with the criminal justice system, the more likely it would be that he would return again and again and again -- all at tremendous social cost to his children, to his family and to his peers . 他与刑事司法系统瓜葛越多, 重新犯罪的可能性就会越来越大, 越来越大。 这对他的孩子,他的家庭,他的兄弟姐妹 都是巨大的社会成本。
contact:n.接触,联系;v.使接触,联系; again and again:adv.再三地,反复地; tremendous:adj.极大的,巨大的;惊人的;极好的; peers:n.平辈,同事(peer的复数);v.凝视;比得上(peer的三单形式);
And, ladies and gentlemen, it is a terrible public safety outcome for the rest of us. 而且,女士们先生们, 这对我们而言是一个严重的公共安全问题。
outcome:n.结果,结局;成果;
When I came out of law school, 当我从法学院毕业后,
I did the same thing as everybody else. 走的路跟其他人一样。
I came out as a prosecutor expected to do justice, but I never learned what justice was in my classes -- none of us do. 我成为了一名检察官,希望能主持公正, 但什么是公正,在课堂上是学不到的, 没有人,
None of us do. 能从课堂上学到。
And yet, prosecutors are the most powerful actors in the criminal justice system. 然而,检察官是刑事司法系统中 最重要的角色。
Our power is virtually boundless . 我们的力量几乎是无限的。
virtually:adv.事实上,几乎;实质上; boundless:adj.无限的;无边无际的;
In most cases, not the judge, not the police, not the legislature , not the mayor , not the governor, not the President can tell us how to prosecute our cases. 在大多数案件中,法官 警察、立法机构 市长、州长、总统 都无权干涉我们的诉讼过程。
legislature:n.立法机关;立法机构; mayor:n.市长;镇长;
The decision to arraign Christopher and give him a criminal record was exclusively mine. 是否传讯克里斯托弗,是否给他留下犯罪记录, 这完全取决于我。
exclusively:adv.唯一地;专有地;排外地;
I would choose whether to prosecute him for 30 felonies , for one felony, for a misdemeanor , or at all. 我可以选择起诉他犯了30条重罪,或者1条, 或者轻罪, 或者根本不起诉。
felonies:n.重罪; misdemeanor:n.轻罪;品行不端;
I would choose whether to leverage Christopher into a plea deal or take the case to trial, and ultimately , 我可以选择让克里斯托弗签认罪协议 或者让他出庭受审,最终,
leverage:n.影响力;杠杆作用;杠杆效力;v.举债经营;借贷收购; plea:n.请求;恳求;答辩;借口; ultimately:adv.最终;最后;归根结底;终究;
I would be in a position to ask for Christopher to go to jail. 我可以亲手把他送进监狱。
These are decisions that prosecutors make every day unfettered , and we are unaware and untrained of the grave consequences of those decisions. 检察官每天都能自由地做出很多决定, 但这些决定可能产生的严重后果, 我们毫不知情,学校也没教过。
unfettered:adj.无拘无束的; v.使自由(unfetter的过去分词); unaware:adj.不知道的,无意的;未察觉到的;adv.意外地;不知不觉地; untrained:adj.未经训练的; grave:adj.重大的;严肃的;黯淡的;n.墓穴,坟墓;死亡;v.雕刻;铭记; consequences:n.后果,结果;影响(consequence的复数);
One night this past summer, 去年夏天的一个晚上,
I was at a small gathering of professional men of color from around the city. 我参加了一个小型聚会,参加者是我们市里 各行各业的非白人。
professional:adj.专业的;职业的;职业性的;n.专业人员;职业运动员;
As I stood there stuffing free finger sandwiches into my mouth, as you do as public servant -- 我站在那儿,不停往嘴里塞免费的三明治条, ——咱公务员经常这么干——
stuffing:n.填料;填充物;v.填满;装满;塞满;灌满;把…塞进;(stuff的现在分词)
(Laughter) （笑声）
I noticed across the room, a young man waving and smiling at me and approaching me. 我注意到房间另一边, 一个年轻人微笑着向我挥手,并向我走近。
approaching:v.靠近,接近;接洽;建议;要求;(approach的现在分词)
And I recognized him, but I couldn't place from where, and before I knew it, this young man was hugging me. 我觉得他很眼熟,但想不起来在哪里见过, 我还在使劲回忆,他已经一把抱住我。
recognized:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到;(recognize的过去分词和过去式)
And thanking me. 对我说谢谢。
'"You cared about me, and you changed my life." “你关心过我,改变了我的人生。”
It was Christopher. 是克里斯托弗。
See, I never arraigned Christopher. 我最终没有传讯他。
He never faced a judge or a jail, he never had a criminal record. 他没有上法庭,也没有进监狱, 没有留下犯罪记录。
Instead, I worked with Christopher; first on being accountable for his actions, and then, putting him in a position where he wouldn't re-offend. 我帮助克里斯托弗, 首先认清了自己在这件事上的责任, 然后确保他不会再犯。
accountable:adj.有责任的;有解释义务的;可解释的;
We recovered 75 percent of the computers that he sold and gave them back to Best Buy, and came up with a financial plan to repay for the computers we couldn't recover. 我们追回了他卖掉电脑的四分之三, 还给了百思买, 然后制定了财务计划 偿还那些没法追回的电脑。
repay:v.偿还;报答;报复;
Christopher did community service . 克里斯托弗参加了社区服务。
community service:n.社区服务(自愿或因受法庭惩罚的无偿劳动);
He wrote an essay reflecting on how this case could impact his future and that of the community. 他还写了一篇文章,关于这件案子如何改变了他的未来 以及社区的未来。
reflecting:v.反映;映出(影像);反射;显示,表明,表达;(reflect的现在分词)
He applied to college, he obtained financial aid , and he went on to graduate from a four-year school. 他申请了大学, 得到了助学金, 顺利完成了四年的大学课程。
applied:adj.应用的;实用的;v.应用;使用;申请,请求;(apply的过去分词和过去式) obtained:v.获得(obtain的过去分词); financial aid:n.(高等院校的)助学金;
(Applause) （掌声）
After we finished hugging, I looked at his name tag , to learn that Christopher was the manager of a large bank in Boston. 拥抱完之后,我看了看他的名牌, 发现克里斯托弗已经是波士顿一家大银行的经理。
name tag:胸牌;名称标签;
Christopher had accomplished -- and making a lot more money than me -- 他成功了——而且挣得比我多多了——
accomplished:adj.完成的;有技巧的;有学问的;v.完成;(accomplish的过去分词和过去式)
(Laughter) （笑声）
He had accomplished all of this in the six years since I had first seen him in Roxbury Court. 从我第一次见到他 ——在罗克斯伯里的法庭上——到现在已经6年了,他成功了。
I can't take credit for Christopher's journey to success, but I certainly did my part to keep him on the path. 我不能说克里斯托弗的成功完全是因为我, 但我的确将他带到了正确的道路上。
journey:n.旅行;行程;vi.旅行;
There are thousands of Christophers out there, some locked in our jails and prisons. 还有很多人像克里斯托弗一样, 其中一些被关在监狱里。
We need thousands of prosecutors to recognize that and to protect them. 我们需要更多能看清他们, 保护他们的检察官。
An employed Christopher is better for public safety than a condemned one. 一个有工作的克里斯托弗比一个被判刑的,对公众而言更安全。
employed:v.雇用:应用:运用:使用(employ的过去分词和过去式)
It's a bigger win for all of us. 对所有人都更有利。
In retrospect , the decision not to throw the book at Christopher makes perfect sense. 事后来看,没有传讯克里斯托弗 是一个正确的决定。
retrospect:n.回顾,追溯;vi.回顾,追溯;回想;vt.回顾;追忆;
When I saw him that first day in Roxbury Court, 当我第一次在罗克斯伯里见到他时,
I didn't see a criminal standing there. 我见到的不是一名罪犯。
I saw myself -- a young person in need of intervention . 我见到的是我自己——一个需要引导的年轻人。
young person:n.(14至17岁的)青少年; intervention:n.介入;调停;妨碍;
As an individual caught selling a large quantity of drugs in my late teens , 作为一个曾经因为出售毒品被抓的年轻人,
individual:n.个人;有个性的人;adj.单独的;个别的; quantity:n.量;数量;大量;数额; teens:n.十多岁,十几岁;青少年;
I knew firsthand the power of opportunity as opposed to the wrath of the criminal justice system. 我深深懂得给予机会, 比起刑事审判系统的雷霆惩罚更有力量。
firsthand:adj.直接的;直接采购的;直接得来的;adv.直接地; opposed:adj.强烈反对; v.反对(计划、政策等); (oppose的过去分词和过去式) wrath:n.愤怒;激怒;
Along the way, with the help and guidance of my district attorney , my supervisor and judges, 一路走来,我得到了地区检察官、 监督人和法官的帮助和指导,
district attorney:n.(美国)地方检察官; supervisor:n.监督人,[管理]管理人;检查员;
I learned the power of the prosecutor to change lives instead of ruining them. 我看到了检察官的力量, 能改变人的命运而不是毁掉一个人。
ruining:v.毁坏;破坏;毁灭;(ruin的现在分词)
And that's how we do it in Boston. 我们在波士顿也是这么做的。
We helped a woman who was arrested for stealing groceries to feed her kids get a job. 一位女性因盗窃食品给孩子吃而被捕,我们帮她 找到了一份工作。
groceries:n.杂货;食品杂货;食品杂货店;(grocery的复数)
Instead of putting an abused teenager in adult jail for punching another teenager, we secured mental health treatment and community supervision . 一个遭虐待的年轻人打了另一个, 我们没把他投进监狱, 而是让他接受心理治疗,给他安排社区监护人。
abused:v.滥用(以致危害健康); (abuse的过去分词和过去式) punching:v.拳打;以拳痛击;给…打孔;(punch的现在分词) treatment:n.治疗;疗法;对待;处理;讨论; supervision:n.监督,管理;
A runaway girl who was arrested for prostituting , to survive on the streets, needed a safe place to live and grow -- something we could help her with. 一个离家出走的女孩, 因在街头卖淫被捕, 她需要的是一个安全的成长环境, 而这些是我们可以帮到她的。
runaway:adj.逃亡的;逃走的;n.逃跑;逃走的人; prostituting:vt.使沦为妓女;adj.卖淫的;堕落的;n.妓女;
I even helped a young man who was so afraid of the older gang kids showing up after school, that one morning instead of a lunchbox into his backpack, he put a loaded 9-millimeter. 我们还帮过一个小伙子, 他因为害怕放学后被那些混帮派的大孩子欺负, 某天早上他往书包里塞的不是午餐盒, 而是一把上膛的9毫米手枪。
gang:n.一群; v.(英)去; lunchbox:n.饭盒;便当;
We would spend our time that we'd normally take prepping our cases for months and months for trial down the road by coming up with real solutions to the problems as they presented. 我们将搜集材料、准备起诉的时间, ——通常长达数月之久—— 用来寻找这些问题的真正解决之道。
normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地; prepping:v.把…准备好;预备;为(患者)做手术准备;(prep的现在分词) down the road:只要沿着这条路;将来;在路上;
Which is the better way to spend our time? 我们的时间应该花在哪里比较好？
How would you prefer your prosecutors to spend theirs? 你希望你的检察官如何使用他们的时间？
prefer:v.更喜欢;宁愿;提出;提升;
Why are we spending 80 billion dollars on a prison industry that we know is failing, when we could take that money and reallocate it into education, into mental health treatment, into substance abuse treatment and to community investment so we can develop our neighborhoods? 为什么我要把800亿美元 投在一个失败的监狱系统上, 而不是投到教育上, 投到心理治疗上, 投到防止虐待上, 投到社区中,使社区得到更好发展？
reallocate:v.重新分配;再指派; substance:n.物质;实质;主旨;物品; investment:n.投资;投入;封锁;
(Applause) （掌声）
So why should this matter to you? 这些跟在座各位有什么关系？
Well, one, we're spending a lot of money. 首先,我们花了许多钱。
Our money. 我们的钱。
It costs 109,000 dollars in some states to lock up a teenager for a year, with a 60 percent chance that that person will return to the very same system. 在某些州,把一个青少年关一年, 需要花费10万9千美元, 而这个人有60%的机率再次被捕,继续蹲监狱。
That is a terrible return on investment. 这种投资回报实在糟糕。
Number two: it's the right thing to do. 其次,这件事是对的,我们必须做。
If prosecutors were a part of creating the problem, it's incumbent on us to create a solution and we can do that using other disciplines that have already done the data and research for us. 如果检察官是导致问题的因素之一, 那要解决问题,我们责无旁贷, 我们可以采取其它的惩罚措施, 有现成的数据和研究可以借鉴。
incumbent:adj.现任的;依靠的;负有职责的;n.在职者;现任者;领圣俸者; solution:n.解决方案;溶液;溶解;解答; disciplines:n.[管理]纪律(discipline的复数); v.训导;
And number three: your voice and your vote can make that happen. 第三, 你们的意见,你们的选择至关重要。
The next time there's a local district attorney's election in your jurisdiction , ask candidates these questions. 下一次,如果在你们的辖区 有地方检察官选举, 你可以问候选人几个问题。
jurisdiction:n.司法权,审判权,管辖权;权限,权力;
One: What are you doing to make me and my neighbors safer? 第一,你会采取什么措施让我和我们社区更安全？
Two: What data are you collecting, and how are you training your prosecutors to make sure that it's working? 第二,你会收集哪些数据？ 你会如何训练你的检察官 来善用这些数据？
And number three: 第三,
If it's not working for everybody, what are you doing to fix it? 如果你的措施并不是对每个人都有效, 那你会怎么补救？
If they can't answer the questions, they shouldn't be doing the job. 如果他们无法回答这些问题, 他们就不配做这项工作。
Each one of you that raised your hand at the beginning of this talk is a living, breathing example of the power of opportunity, of intervention, of support and of love. 在演讲最开始举手的每一个人 你们就是最鲜活的例子,你们阐明了机会的力量, 引导的力量, 支持的力量, 爱的力量。
at the beginning of:在…的开始;
While each of you may have faced your own brand of discipline for whatever malfeasances you committed , barely any of you needed a day in jail to make you the people that you are today -- some of the greatest minds on the planet. 也许对于自己当年的不当行为,你们大家都得到了 各自不同的惩罚, 你们中没有任何人需要通过坐牢 来成为今天的你们—— 世界上最精英的人群。
malfeasances:n.渎职,违法行为;不正当,坏事; committed:adj.坚信的; v.做出错事; (commit的过去分词和过去式) barely:adv.仅仅,勉强;几乎不;公开地;贫乏地;
Every day, thousands of times a day, prosecutors around the United States wield power so great that it can bring about catastrophe as quickly as it can bring about opportunity, intervention, support and yes, even love. 每一天,成千上万次, 美国的检察官们都在行使自己的权力, 这权力有可能带来灾难, 也可能带来机会, 带来引导, 带来支持, 甚至带来爱。
United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式) wield:v.拥有,运用,行使,支配(权力等); catastrophe:n.大灾难;大祸;惨败;
Those qualities are the hallmarks of a strong community, and a strong community is a safe one. 这些都是一个强大社区的特质, 强大的社区就是安全的社区。
hallmarks:印记;
If our communities are broken, don't let the lawyers that you elect fix them with outdated, inefficient , expensive methods. 如果我们的社区出现了问题, 不要让你选择的律师
inefficient:adj.无效率的,效率低的;无能的;
Demand more; vote for the prosecutor who's helping people stay out of jail, not putting them in. 勇敢呼吁,不要选举那些光想着让人坐牢的检察官, 选那些愿意帮助人的。
Demand better. 选择更好的。
You deserve it, your children deserve it, the people who are tied up in the system deserve it, but most of all, the people that we are sworn to protect and do justice for demand it. 这是你应得的,是你的孩子应得的, 是那些被这个体制所累的人应得的, 人民——我们宣誓要保护的,我们宣誓要给予公正的——人民需要它。
deserve:vi.应受,应得;
We must, we must do better. 我们必须, 必须做得更好。
Thank you. 谢谢大家。
(Applause) （掌声）
Thank you. 谢谢大家。
(Applause) （掌声）
Thank you very much. 非常感谢。