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SalilDudani_2016X-_牢狱如何压榨穷人_
One summer afternoon in 2013, 2013 年夏天的一个下午,
DC police detained , questioned and searched a man who appeared suspicious and potentially dangerous. 华盛顿警察以某男子面目可疑、 可能是危险分子为由而予以拘留、问话、搜身。
detained:v.拘留;扣押;留住;阻留;(detain的过去分词和过去式) suspicious:adj.可疑的;怀疑的;多疑的; potentially:adv.可能地,潜在地;
This wasn't what I was wearing the day of the detention , to be fair, but I have a picture of that as well. 我被拘留时并非穿着这件衣服, 但当时穿的衣服我也有拍照。
detention:n.拘留;延迟;挽留;
I know it's very frightening — try to remain calm. 我知道这件衣服有点刺激眼睛——拜托你们还是冷静一下吧。
frightening:adj.可怕的;骇人的;引起恐惧的;v.使惊吓;使惊恐(frighten的现在分词)
(Laughter) （笑声）
At this time, I was interning at the Public Defender Service in Washington DC, and I was visiting a police station for work. 当时我在华盛顿 「公设辩护律师服务」见习, 因工作关系到访一间警局。
interning:v.拘留,禁闭,关押;(intern的现在分词) Public Defender:n.(美国)公设辩护人; police station:n.警察局;派出所;
I was on my way out, and before I could make it to my car, two police cars pulled up to block my exit, and an officer approached me from behind. 当我正在离开、 还未走到我的车前, 就被两辆警车上前堵住去路, 其中一名警员从后向我靠近。
approached:v.走近;临近;探讨;建议;(approach的过去分词和过去式)
He told me to stop, take my backpack off and put my hands on the police car parked next to us. 他叫我停下、放下背包、 把双手放在停在旁边的警车。
police car:警察巡逻车;
About a dozen officers then gathered near us. 随后多名警员围着我们,
All of them had handguns , some had assault rifles . 他们每一名都荷枪, 甚至突击步枪。
handguns:n.手枪; assault:v.袭击;殴打;威胁;非议;(assault的现在分词) rifles:n.[军]步枪(rifle复数);来福枪;卡宾枪;
They rifled through my backpack. 他们搜查我的背包,
rifled:n.步枪;来复枪;vt.用步枪射击;抢夺;偷走;
They patted me down. 搜身,
patted:轻拍;
They took pictures of me spread on the police car, and they laughed. 拍下我趴在警车上的照片, 然后放声大笑。
And as all this was happening — as I was on the police car trying to ignore the shaking in my legs, trying to think clearly about what I should do — something stuck out to me as odd . 当这一切都在进行时—— 我在警车旁试着不理会自己发抖的双腿, 并细心思考我应该如何做时—— 我发现了一些怪事。
ignore:v.驳回诉讼;忽视;不理睬; odd:adj.古怪的;奇数的;n.奇数;
When I look at myself in this photo, if I were to describe myself, 当我望着这幅照片时, 若要我形容自己,
describe:v.描述;形容;把…称为;画出…图形;
I think I'd say something like, "19-year-old Indian male, bright T-shirt, wearing glasses." 我会说: 「 19 岁印度裔男性,鲜色汗衫、架着眼镜。」
But they weren't including any of these details. 但警察们并没有记录这些明细。
Into their police radios as they described me, they kept saying, "Middle Eastern male with a backpack. 他们在对讲机上形容我时, 不停说:「带着背包的中东裔男子。
described:v.描述;形容;把…称为;做…运动;(describe的过去分词和过去式) Eastern:adj.东方的;向东的;东部的;东方国家的;n.东方人;东正教信徒;
Middle Eastern male with a backpack." 带着背包的中东裔男子。」
And this description carried on into their police reports. 这些内容都记录在警察报告上。
description:n.说明;形容;描写(文字);类型;
I never expected to be described by my own government in these terms: " lurking ," 我从来没想过自己的政府用这些字眼形容我: 「鬼鬼崇崇」、
lurking:v.潜伏;潜藏;(lurk的现在分词)
'" nefarious ," 「心术不正」、
nefarious:adj.邪恶的;穷凶极恶的;不法的;
'"terrorist." 「恐怖分子」。
And the detention dragged on like this. 拘留过程不停重覆这些动作:
They sent dogs trained to smell explosives to sweep the area I'd been in. 他们把受过嗅辨爆炸品训练的警犬带过来扫视我踏足的地方,
explosives:n.爆炸物,[化工]炸药;爆炸品(explosive的复数);
They called the federal government to see if I was on any watch lists. 他们询问联邦政府我是否在监视名单,
federal:adj.联邦的;同盟的;联邦政府的;联邦制的;adv.联邦政府地;
They sent a couple of detectives to cross-examine me on why, if I claimed I had nothing to hide, 他们派数名探员盘问我: 既然我声称自己没有任何隐瞒,
detectives:n.侦探;警探;私人侦探;(detective的复数) cross-examine:vt.盘问;(尤指在法庭上对证词细节的)反诘; claimed:v.宣称;声称;断言;索取;认领;索要(claim的过去分词和过去式)
I wouldn't consent to a search of my car. 那为何不允许他们搜查我的车？
consent:vi.同意;赞成;答应;n.同意;(意见等的)一致;赞成;
And I could see they weren't happy with me, but I felt I had no way of knowing what they'd want to do next. 我感觉到他们对我不满, 但我无从知道他们下一步要我做甚么。
At one point, the officer who patted me down scanned the side of the police station to see where the security camera was to see how much of this was being recorded. 那个把我搜身的警员甚至 查看警局旁哪里有保安摄录器, 以知道他们对我做的事有多少被录下来。
And when he did that, it really sank in how completely I was at their mercy . 当他这样做时, 我终于明白:人为刀俎,我为鱼肉。
mercy:n.仁慈,宽容;怜悯;幸运;善行;
I think we're all normalized from a young age to the idea of police officers and arrests and handcuffs , so it's easy to forget how demeaning and coercive a thing it is to seize control over another person's body. 相信我们自小都习惯了 警员用手镣逮捕疑犯, 所以他们要控制别人身体时, 我们不觉得这是侮辱。
normalized:adj.标准化的; v.使规范化(normalize的过去分词); handcuffs:n.手铐;v.用手铐铐住(某人);(handcuff的第三人称单数和复数) demeaning:adj.降低身份的;失去尊严的;v.降低身份;贬低;使失尊严;(demean的现在分词) coercive:adj.强制的;胁迫的;高压的; seize:v.抓住;夺取;理解;逮捕;
I know it sounds like the point of my story is how badly treated I was because of my race — and yes, I don't think I would've been detained if I were white. 大家或会觉得我只不过想说 我都是因为种族身分而被粗暴对待—— 如果我是白人,一定不会被拘留。
treated:v.以…态度对待;把…看作;(treat的过去分词和过去式)
But actually, what I have in mind today is something else. 但我现在想到另一样东西:
What I have in mind is how much worse things might've been if I weren't affluent . 如果我不是家境富裕的话, 我的遭遇或会更差。
affluent:adj.富裕的;丰富的;流畅的;n.支流;富人;
I mean, they thought I might be trying to plant an explosive, and they investigated that possibility for an hour and a half, but I was never put in handcuffs, 他们以为我埋下爆炸品, 因而花了一小时半进行调查, 但我从没被扣上手镣,
investigated:v.侦查;调查;研究;(investigate的过去分词和过去式)
I was never taken to a jail cell. 也从没被带进牢房。
jail:n.监狱;监牢;拘留所;v.监禁;下狱;
I think if I were from one of Washington DC's poor communities of color, and they thought I was endangering officers' lives, things might've ended differently. 如果我是华盛顿贫穷有色人种社区的一员, 而且警员认为我危害他们性命安全, 事情发展可能完全不一样。
communities:n.社区;社会;团体;共有(community的复数) endangering:v.使遭危险;危及;危害;(endanger的现在分词)
And in fact, in our system, I think it's better to be an affluent person suspected of trying to blow up a police station than it is to be a poor person who's suspected of much, much less than this. 在这制度下,作为一个富裕人士 被怀疑引爆警局, 总比作为一个穷人好过, 富人被怀疑程度远比穷人低。
suspected:v.怀疑;不信任;(suspect的过去分词和过去式)
I want to give you an example from my current work. 让我从目前的工作举个例子说明。
Right now, I'm working at a civil rights organization in DC, called Equal Justice Under Law. 目前我任职于华盛顿的民权组织, 它叫做「法律之下司法平等」。
civil rights:na.公民权; organization:n.组织;机构;体制;团体; Justice:n.公平;公正;司法制度;审判;
Let me start by asking you all a question. 首先让我问大家一条问题:
How many of you have ever gotten a parking ticket in your life? 有谁曾经收过违规停车罚单？
parking ticket:n.违章停车罚单;
Raise your hand. 请举手。
Yeah. So have I. 我也收过。
And when I had to pay it, it felt annoying and it felt bad, but I paid it and I moved on. 我要缴交罚款时, 觉得这实在讨厌,感觉糟透, 但我最后都缴交了事。
annoying:adj.烦人的;使生气的;使烦恼的;v.使生气;打扰;骚扰;(annoy的现在分词)
I'm guessing most of you have paid your tickets as well. 相信在座大部分人都曾缴交罚款。
But what would happen if you couldn't afford the amount on the ticket and your family doesn't have the money either, what happens then? 但若各位无力负担罚款、 家人也无力负担罚款会怎办﹖
afford:v.给予,提供;买得起;
Well, one thing that's not supposed to happen under the law is, you're not supposed to be arrested and jailed simply because you can't afford to pay. 法律下不能容许发生的事之一, 就是不能因为无力缴交罚款 就被逮捕和囚禁。
supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式) jailed:v.监禁;(jail的过去分词和过去式)
That's illegal under federal law. 这是违反联邦法律的,
illegal:adj.不合法的;非法的;n.非法移民;非法劳工;
But that's what local governments across the country are doing to people who are poor. 然而全国的地方政府都对穷人 进行这种违法的事。
And so many of our lawsuits at Equal Justice Under Law target these modern-day debtors ' prisons. 「法律之下司法平等」处理的很多诉讼, 都是针对现代版「欠债人牢狱」。
lawsuits:n.诉讼,法律诉讼;控诉(lawsuit的复数形式); modern-day:adj.当代的;今日的; debtors:n.债务人;借方(debtor的复数);[会计]应收帐款;
One of our cases is against Ferguson, Missouri . 其中一单诉讼是针对密苏里州佛格逊政府。
Missouri:n.密苏里(美国州名);
And I know when I say Ferguson, many of you will think of police violence . 当我提到佛格逊这名字, 大家或会联想起警察暴力事件。
violence:n.暴力;侵犯;激烈;歪曲;
But today I want to talk about a different aspect of the relationship between their police force and their citizens. 但我今天要从另一角度 谈警民关系。
aspect:n.方面;层面;外观;方位; police force:n.警察部队;
Ferguson was issuing an average of over two arrest warrants , per person, per year, mostly for unpaid debt to the courts. 佛格逊政府每年平均向每人发出 超过两项逮捕令, 大部分都是为法院追讨欠债。
issuing:n.发行物;争论点;期刊号;v.发行(issue的ing形式);分配;流出; warrants:n.[金融]认股权证; v.授权(warrant的三单形式); unpaid:adj.未付款的;[税收]未缴纳的;无报酬的;
When I imagine what that would feel like if, every time I left my house, there was a chance a police officer would run my license plate , see a warrant for unpaid debt, seize my body they way the did in DC and then take me to a jail cell, 当我想起如果每次我离开住所后, 我或被警员根据车牌号码翻查资料, 以欠债为由发出逮捕令、 就像在华盛顿时把我的身体按下、 然后把我送进牢房时,
police officer:n.警官;警察;警务人员; license plate:牌照;
I feel a little sick. 我就会浑身不自在。
I've met many of the people in Ferguson who have experienced this, and I've heard some of their stories. 我在佛格逊遇过有这些经历的人, 也听过他们的亲身经历。
In Ferguson's jail, in each small cell, there's a bunk bed and a toilet, but they'd pack four people into each cell. 在佛格逊的监狱, 每个小牢房都有一张双层床和一个马桶, 但每个牢房却挤着四个人。
bunk:n.铺位;床铺;座床;v.睡在铺上;逃跑;
So there'd be two people on the bunks and two people on the floor, one with nowhere to go except right next to the filthy toilet, which was never cleaned. 两人睡在床上,两人睡地板, 骯脏的马桶就在咫尺, 从来没有清洁过。
bunks:n.铺位(bunk的复数);v.哄骗(bunk的单数第三人称); nowhere:v.无处; n.无处; adj.不存在的; filthy:adj.肮脏的;污秽的;下流的;淫秽的;adv.极其肮脏的;富得流油的;
In fact, the whole cell was never cleaned, so the floor and the walls were lined with blood and mucus . 其实整个牢房都没有清洁过, 地板和墙上满是血迹和粘液。
mucus:n.粘液;黏液;
No water to drink, except coming out of a spigot connected to the toilet. 没有任何饮用水, 只有来自马桶的水。
spigot:n.龙头;栓;饮水的地方;
The water looked and tasted dirty, there was never enough food, never any showers, women menstruating without any hygiene products, no medical attention whatsoever . 马桶水看上去很骯脏,其味道也是如此, 从来没有足够食物, 从来没有机会淋浴, 女士月经时没有衞生用品可用, 得不到任何医疗协助。
menstruating:v.月经来潮(menstruate的现在分词); hygiene:n.卫生;卫生学;保健法; whatsoever:pron.无论什么;
When I asked a woman about medical attention, she laughed, and she said, "Oh, no, no. 当我问她们其中一位有否得到医疗协助时, 她失笑并说:「当然没有。
The only attention you get from the guards in there is sexual ." 狱卒反而只有兴趣跟我们性交。」
sexual:adj.性的;性别的;有性的;
So, they'd take the debtors to this place and they'd say, "We're not letting you leave until you make a payment on your debt." 他们只把欠债人带进监狱并说: 「未能还清债务就休想离开。」
payment:n.付款;支付;收款;款项;报答;
And if you could — if you could call a family member who could somehow come up with some money, then maybe you were out. 如果你可以致电家人求助、 叫他们给你一点钱的话, 你就可以离开。
somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地; come up with:提出;想出;赶上;
If it was enough money, you were out. 钱足够的话,你才可以走。
But if it wasn't, you'd stay there for days or weeks, and every day the guards would come down to the cells and haggle with the debtors about the price of release that day. 钱不够的话就要在这里多呆几天, 每天狱卒就会来到牢房, 跟欠债人争辩交多少钱才可以离开。
haggle:n.讨价还价;争论;vt.乱劈;乱砍;vi.争论;乱劈; release:v.释放;发射;让与;允许发表;n.释放;发布;让与;
You'd stay until, at some point, the jail would be booked to capacity , and they'd want to book someone new in. 监狱总会有满额的一天, 他们要带新人进来时,
capacity:n.能力;容量;资格,地位;生产力;
And at that point, they'd think, "OK, it's unlikely this person can come up with the money, it's more likely this new person will." 就会这样考虑: 「这个人怕是还不起钱了, 反而新人更有可能还钱。」
unlikely:adj.不大可能发生的;非心目中的;非想象的;难以相信的;
You're out, they're in, and the machine kept moving like that. 旧人出新人入,系统就是这样运作。
I met a man who, nine years ago, was arrested for panhandling in a Walgreens . 我曾经见过 一位九年前因在药房行乞而被捕的男子。
panhandling:n.平锅柄;(美)柄状的狭长区域;vt.向…乞讨;乞得;vi.行乞; Walgreens:n.沃尔格林(美国最大连锁药店);
He couldn't afford his fines and his court fees from that case. 他无力缴付罚款和诉讼堂费。
When he was young he survived a house fire, only because he jumped out of the third-story window to escape. 他年轻时在家居火灾生还, 但只因为他是从三楼窗户跃下逃生。
But that fall left him with damage to his brain and several parts of this body, including his leg. 这一跳令他脑部 以及大腿等身体部位受损。
So he can't work, and he relies on social security payments to survive. 因此他无法工作, 需要依靠社会保障金过活。
relies:信任; social security:n.社会保障金(政府定期向贫穷、失业、患病等人发放); payments:n.付款;支付;收款;款项;报答;(payment的复数)
When I met him in his apartment, he had nothing of value there — not even food in his fridge. 当我探访他的寓所时, 他身无分文,冰箱连食物也没有。
He's chronically hungry. 他长期挨饿。
chronically:adv.长期地;慢性地;习惯性地;
He had nothing of value in his apartment except a small piece of cardboard on which he'd written the names of his children. 他家徒四壁,只有一小块纸板, 上面写着他孩子的名字。
cardboard:n.[纸]硬纸板;纸板箱;卡纸板;adj.不真实的;硬纸板制的;
He cherished this a lot. He was happy to show it to me. 他珍而重之、很乐意的给我看。
cherished:adj.珍爱的;珍视的;珍视;珍爱;珍藏的;
But he can't pay his fines and fees because he has nothing to give. 他身无分文而无力缴付罚款和规费。
In the last nine years, he's been arrested 13 times, and jailed for a total of 130 days on that panhandling case. 九年来他被逮捕 13 次, 因那次行乞就被监禁共 130 天。
One of those stretches lasted 45 days. 有一次他更被连续囚禁 45 天。
stretches:v.拉长; n.一片; (stretch的第三人称单数和复数)
Just imagine spending from right now until sometime in June in the place that I described to you a few moments ago. 试想像一下由现在直至六月 待在我刚才形容的地方。
He told me about all the suicide attempts he's seen in Ferguson's jail; about the time a man found a way to hang himself out of reach of the other inmates , so all they could do was yell and yell and yell, trying to get the guards' attention so they could come down and cut him down. 他告诉我佛格逊监狱中很多人企图自杀; 一名男子去其他囚犯到不了的地方 试图吊颈自尽, 他们可做的只是拼命叫喊, 试图引起狱卒的注意, 希望狱卒赶过来把他救回来。
suicide:n.自杀;自杀行为;自杀者;adj.自杀的;v.自杀;vi.自杀; attempts:n.企图,试图;尝试(attempt的复数);v.试图;努力去做(attempt的三单形式); inmates:n.被收容者;居民(inmate的名词复数);
And he told me that it took the guards over five minutes to respond , and when they came, the man was unconscious . 他说狱卒五分钟后才回应, 当他们来到时那人已经不省人事。
respond:vi.回答;作出反应;承担责任;n.应答;唱和; unconscious:adj.无意识的;失去知觉的;未发觉的;
So they called the paramedics and the paramedics went to the cell. 狱卒电召医疗辅助人员,医护来到时,
paramedics:n.护理人员;医务辅助人员;(paramedic的复数)
They said, "He'll be OK," 就说:「他没事的。」
so they just left him there on the floor. 他们就任由那人躺在地上。
I heard many stories like this and they shouldn't have surprised me, because suicide is the single leading cause of death in our local jails . 这些故事我听过多遍,我不感惊讶, 因为自杀是地区监狱中囚犯的首要死因。
jails:n.监狱;监牢;拘留所;vt.监禁;下狱;
This is related to the lack of mental health care in our jails. 这跟监狱中缺乏精神健康协助有关。
mental:adj.精神的;脑力的;疯的;n.精神病患者; health care:n.卫生保健;
I met a woman, single mother of three, making seven dollars an hour. 我见过一名三子之母,她时薪七美元,
She relies on food stamps to feed herself and her children. 她和孩子都要靠食物配给券过活。
About a decade ago, she got a couple of traffic tickets and a minor theft charge, and she can't afford her fines and fees on those cases. 大约十年前, 她收到几张交通违规罚单和被控小型盗窃, 但无力缴付罚款和诉讼堂费。
minor:adj.未成年的; n.未成年人; vi.副修;
Since then, she's been jailed about 10 times on those cases, but she has schizophrenia and bipolar disorder , and she needs medication every day. 因此她在往后被监禁约十次, 然而她患上精神分裂症和狂躁抑郁症, 需要每天服药。
schizophrenia:n.[内科]精神分裂症; bipolar disorder:n.双相型障碍;躁狂抑郁性精神病; medication:n.药;药物;
She doesn't have access to those medications in Ferguson's jail, because no one has access to their medications. 她在佛格逊监狱得不到药物服用, 因为所有囚犯都得不到药物服用。
medications:n.药;药物;(medication的复数)
She told me about what it was like to spend two weeks in a cage, hallucinating people and shadows and hearing voices, begging for the medication that would make it all stop, only to be ignored . 她告诉我待在牢房那两星期间 幻觉到身边有人、影和声音等等, 哀求狱方提供药物以消除幻觉, 却无人理会。
hallucinating:v.(由于生病、吸毒)幻听,幻视,产生幻觉;(hallucinate的现在分词) ignored:v.忽视;对…不予理会;佯装未见;不予理睬;(ignore的过去分词和过去式)
And this isn't anomalous , either: thirty percent of women in our local jails have serious mental health needs just like hers, but only one in six receives any mental health care while in jail. 这却并非特例: 地区监狱有三成女囚犯极需要精神健康协助, 就像她一样, 但只有六分之一的人在狱中得到精神协助。
anomalous:adj.异常的;不规则的;不恰当的;
And so, I heard all these stories about this grotesque dungeon that Ferguson was operating for its debtors, and when it came time for me to actually see it and to go visit Ferguson's jail, 佛格逊监狱为欠债人设置荒唐的地牢, 那些骇人传闻我全都听过, 但当我有机会到访佛格逊监狱 去亲眼目睹那些囚牢,
grotesque:n.奇异风格;怪异的东西;adj.奇形怪状的;奇怪的;可笑的; dungeon:n.(尤指城堡中的)地牢,土牢;
I'm not sure what I was expecting to see, but I wasn't expecting this. 我不清楚会看到些甚么, 但我意料不到会见到这情景。
It's an ordinary government building. 监狱看来就像普通政府办公大楼,
It could be a post office or a school. 看来像邮局或学校。
post office:邮局
It reminded me that these illegal extortion schemes aren't being run somewhere in the shadows, they're being run out in the open by our public officials. 这提醒我一切违法的敲诈勾当 都不是在暗黑中进行, 而是由官员们在光天化日下进行。
reminded:v.提醒;使想起;(remind的过去分词和过去式) extortion:n.勒索;敲诈;强夺;被勒索的财物; schemes:n.方案,计划;阴谋(scheme的复数);v.计划,设计;谋划(scheme的三单形式); in the open:在户外;在野外;
They're a matter of public policy . 这些勾当攸关公共政策。
policy:n.政策,方针;保险单;
And this reminded me that poverty jailing in general , even outside the debtors' prison context , plays a very visible and central role in our justice system. 这也提醒我,因贫穷而受牢狱—— 即使撇除欠债人牢狱的情况—— 在司法制度内的角色也举足轻重。
poverty:n.贫困;困难;缺少;低劣; jailing:n.监狱;监牢;拘留所;vt.监禁;下狱; in general:总之,通常;一般而言; context:n.环境;上下文;来龙去脉; visible:adj.明显的;看得见的;现有的;可得到的;n.可见物;进出口贸易中的有形项目;
What I have in mind is our policy of bail . 我想到的就是保释制度。
bail:n.保释金;保释;v.允许保释(某人);离开;与…搭讪;
In our system, whether you're detained or free, pending trial is not a matter of how dangerous you are or how much of a flight risk you pose. 在这制度中,被拘留或获释放, 并非视乎当事人有多大危险性 或者有多大机会潜逃,
pending:adj.悬而未决的; prep.在等待…时期; v.悬而未决; (pend的现在分词)
It's a matter of whether you can afford to post your bail amount. 而是视乎当事人能否负担保释金。
So Bill Cosby, whose bail was set at a million dollars, immediately writes the check, and doesn't spend a second in a jail cell. 演员比尔.科斯比的保释金高达百万美元, 他立即以支票交款就丝毫不用坐牢。
But Sandra Bland , who died in jail, was only there because her family was unable to come up with 500 dollars. 但死在狱中的桑德拉 · 布兰德, 她只因家人交不出 500 元就被监禁。
Bland:adj.乏味的; vt.使…变得淡而无味; vi.变得平淡无奇;
In fact, there are half a million Sandra Blands across the country — 500,000 people who are in jail right now, only because they can't afford their bail amount. 其实全国有 50 万像布兰德一样的人—— 现在之所以要待在监狱, 只是因为无力缴纳保释金。
We're told that our jails are places for criminals, but statistically that's not the case: three out of every five people in jail right now are there pretrial . 常言道,监狱是罪犯的地方, 但统计上这并非事实: 五分之三的在囚人士是还未审讯的。
statistically:adv.统计地;统计学上; pretrial:n.事先审理;adj.审判前的;
They haven't been convicted of any crime; they haven't pled guilty to any offense . 他们还没有被控犯下任何罪行, 也没有认任何罪。
convicted:v.定罪;宣判…有罪;(convict的过去式和过去分词) pled:v.辩护;恳求(plead的过去式和过去分词); offense:n.犯罪,过错;进攻;触怒;引起反感的事物;
Right here in San Francisco, 85 percent of the inmates in our jail in San Francisco are pretrial detainees . 在三藩市这里, 在囚人士中有 85% 还未经审讯而被拘留。
detainees:n.未判决囚犯;被扣押者;
This means San Francisco is spending something like 80 million dollars every year to fund pretrial detention. 这意味三藩市每年花费大约8,000 万元 囚禁还未经审讯的被拘留人士。
fund:n.基金;资金;存款;v.投资;资助;
Many of these people who are in jail only because they can't post bail are facing allegations so minor that the amount of time it would take for them to sit waiting for trial 很多人坐牢只因负担不起保释金; 针对他们的指控虽然轻微, 但他们坐牢等待审讯的时间,
allegations:n.(无证据的)说法,指控;(allegation的复数)
is longer than the sentence they would receive if convicted, which means they're guaranteed to get out faster if they just plead guilty . 比起定罪后的判监时间还要长, 所以他们干脆认罪的话 反可更早被释放。
guaranteed:adj.必然的; v.保证; plead guilty:服罪;被告服罪;
So now the choice is: 他们面对这样的抉择:
Should I stay here in this horrible place, away from my family and my dependents , almost guaranteed to lose my job, and then fight the charges? 我应否待在这鬼地方, 在不能和家人孩子一起、 一定会丢了工作的情况下, 反驳指控？
horrible:可怕的,极讨厌的, dependents:n.家属(dependent的复数);从属单元格;关联;
Or should I just plead guilty to whatever the prosecutor wants and get out? 或是应否任由檢察官定罪,干脆认罪早日获释？
prosecutor:n.检察官;公诉人;[法]起诉人;实行者;
And at this point, they're pretrial detainees, not criminals. 这时,他们还只是未经审讯的被拘留人士而非罪犯,
But once they take that plea deal, we'll call them criminals, even though an affluent person would never have been in this situation, because an affluent person would have simply been bailed out. 他们一认罪就被称为罪犯, 然而富裕人士不会落得如此下场, 因为他们有钱给自己保释。
bailed:v.允许保释;离开;与…搭讪;(bail的过去分词和过去式)
At this point you might be wondering, "This guy's in the inspiration section, what is he doing — 大家这时候或会问: 「这可是给人以鼓舞的舞台啊,这家伙究竟在讲甚么——
(Laughter) （笑声）
'"This is extremely depressing . I want my money back." 演讲令人沮丧,我要退钱。」
extremely:adv.非常,极其;极端地; depressing:adj.令人抑郁的; v.使沮丧; (depress的现在分词)
(Laughter) （笑声）
But in actuality , 但事实上,
actuality:n.现状;现实;事实;
I find talking about jailing much less depressing than the alternative , because I think if we don't talk about these issues and collectively change how we think about jailing, at the end of all of our lives, we'll still have jails full of poor people who don't belong there. 我认为牢狱反而比其他课题没那么令人沮丧, 因为如果我们不去讨论这些课题、 使公众集体改变对牢狱的看法, 到我们临终时, 狱中还会满是不应被囚禁的穷人。
alternative:adj.供选择的;选择性的;交替的;n.二中择一;供替代的选择; issues:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;(issue的第三人称单数和复数) collectively:adv.共同地,全体地;
That really is depressing to me. 这些情景的确令我沮丧,
But what's exciting to me is the thought that these stories can move us to think about jailing in different terms. 但令我鼓舞的是这些狱中见闻能打动人心, 使我们从另一角度看牢狱问题。
Not in sterile policy terms like " mass incarceration ," 不是以「集体囚禁」或者「监禁非暴力罪犯」
sterile:adj.不育的;无菌的;贫瘠的;不毛的;枯燥乏味的; mass:n.块,团; adj.群众的,民众的; v.聚集起来,聚集; incarceration:n.监禁;下狱;禁闭;
or "sentencing of nonviolent offenders ," 这些冷漠的术语探讨问题,
nonviolent:adj.非暴力的;不使用暴力的; offenders:n.罪犯(offender的复数);冒犯者;
but in human terms. 而是从人性角度探讨。
When we put a human being in a cage for days or weeks or months or even years, what are we doing to that person's mind and body? 当我们把一个人困在牢中数天、数星期、数个月 甚至数年, 这对他的身心有何影响？
Under what conditions are we really willing to do that? 我们真的要这样对待一个人吗？
And so if starting with a few hundred of us in this room, we can commit to thinking about jailing in this different light, then we can undo that normalization I was referring to earlier. 如果在座的数百名观众 决心从另一角度思考牢狱问题, 就可消弭我早前说的习以为常。
commit:v.犯(罪等);干(坏事等);[法]提(审);判处; normalization:n.正常化;标准化;正规化;常态化; referring:v.引用;提到;将…归因于…;把…提交;(refer的现在分词)
If I leave you with anything today, I hope it's with the thought that if we want anything to fundamentally change — not just to reform our policies on bail and fines and fees — 若要我说希望各位在这演讲后记住甚么, 希望大家明白若要作出彻底改变— 不只是改革保释、罚款和规费制度—
fundamentally:adv.从根本上;基础地;重要地 reform:v.改革;改进;改良;(使)悔改;n.改革;改良;改善; policies:n.政策;方针;原则;为人之道;保险单(policy的复数)
but also to make sure that whatever new policies replace those don't punish the poor and the marginalized in their own new way. 必须确保替代的新制度 不会惩罚贫穷和社会边缘人士。
marginalized:使边缘化;忽略;排斥(marginalize的过去式和过去分词);
If we want that kind of change, then this shift in thinking is required of each of us. 我们若要改变现状, 我们的思维必须有所转变。
shift:n.移动;变化;手段;轮班;v.移动;转变;转换;
Thank you. 多谢大家。
(Applause) （鼓掌声）