VOA常速英语2014--美国拥有全球最高监禁率

 

US Has Highest Incarceration¹ Rate in World 美国拥有全球最高监禁率

In observance of International Human Rights Day, we have decided² to look at the U.S. incarceration rate.  Human rights groups often criticize the United States for having the largest prison population in the world. They argue that U.S. courtrooms consistently hand out disproportionately long sentences for non-violent crime.  After 30 years of get-tough-on-crime policies, both conservatives and liberals are beginning to agree it is time for reform.

In April of 1998, twins Laurence and Lamont Garrison³ were convicted of cocaine⁴ distribution.  Under mandatory⁵ minimum sentencing guidelines, which bypass a judge’s discretion⁶, they served 12 and 14 years in prison.  Experts say a typical judge would have given them less than five years.

1998年4月,双胞胎劳伦斯和拉蒙特·加里森因分销可卡因被判刑。但无视法官的自由裁量权依照强制性最低量刑指南,他们分别被判处12年及14年的监禁。专家表示一般法官则会判处他们不到5年的监禁。

To this day, Lamont Garrison maintains their innocence⁷.

直到今天, 拉蒙特·加里森仍然坚持维护自己的清白。

“And they said, O.K. Mr. Garrison this is your oportunity to help yourself," he said.  "And I said uh, help myself how?  You know what do you mean?  Well you know what this is about, you guys were doing wrong, XYZ, you got to tell us what you are doing.  Well, I said I wasn’t doing anything wrong, so there is nothing to talk about.”

“他们说好吧，加里森先生，这是你帮助自己的机会。我说嗯,我要如何做呢?你知道你是什么意思吗?你肯定清楚的,你们这些家伙是做了错事等等,你得告诉我们你们的所作所为。好吧,我说我没做错什么,所以没什么可谈的。”

Human rights organizations have often criticized the U.S. for ignoring the basic principles of justice and rendering⁸ disproportionately severe punishment.  

人权组织经常批判美国无视正义的基本原则并且判处不成比例的重刑。

“The incarceration rates started to go up in the 1970s, but they really took off in the 1980s with the start of the tough on crime movement - mandatory sentencing," said Marc Maur, executive director of the Sentencing Project. "Basically, a political initiative to send more people to prison and keep them there for longer periods of time.”

量刑计划执行董事马克·莫尔说道:“20世纪70年代监禁率开始上升,但80年代由于严厉打击犯罪运动—强制性量刑标准的开始走下坡路。坦白讲是一个政治提议就将更多人送去吃牢饭,并且他们还得在狱中呆很长一段时间。”

The intention was to target violent criminals.  But tough sentencing guidelines began to creep into non-violent, often drug related, offenses⁹.  

这一举措的目的起初是针对暴力犯罪分子。但严格量刑指南开始慢慢渗透进非暴力,通常是毒药相关的罪行宣判中。

Thirty years later, the incarceration rate has increased 500 percent. The more than two million people now incarcerated¹⁰ in the U.S. make up the largest prison population in the world.  Maur says long prison sentences send ripple¹¹ effects through society.

30年后, 监禁率增加了500%。现在被关押的超过二百万人使美国的监狱关押人数达世界之最。马克·莫尔表示长期徒刑给社会造成连锁反应。

“When a person is sent off to prison, it is not just that person that is affected¹², but his or her family," he said. "So, at the very least, the children have the psychological loss of a parent who is behind bars - the shame, the stigma¹³ that often goes along with that.”

“当一个人被送进监狱,不仅仅是待罪之人受到影响,而且家人也受到牵连。所以,至少,孩子们会蒙受父母坐牢失去家人的心理问题，而且这种羞愧感，这种耻辱感经常会一直陪伴他们。”

The collateral¹⁴ effect has triggered bipartisan calls for reform.  

这种间接效应引发了两党改革的呼声。

“Conservatives said what can we do to improve this, and one of the things they thought of, well you know, if we don’t impose criminal records, or long protracted¹⁵ jail sentences on people who are not violent felons¹⁶, whose crimes are minimal¹⁷ damage to society, then perhaps we will have better family formation,” said Michael Barone, who is with the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

美国企业研究所保守派迈克尔·巴龙说道:“保守派表示我们能做些什么改善这种情况,他们想到的一件事是你知道,如果我们不对对社会造成最小伤害的非暴力罪犯添加犯罪记录或判处长期徒刑，那么也许我们的家庭会更完整。”

“It is going to be a slow development," Mark Maur said. "You can pass mandatory sentencing in 20 minutes, but it sometimes takes 20 years to undo¹⁸ the harm that has been done.”  

“这会是一个缓慢的发展过程。你短短20分钟内就可以通过强制性判决,但有时却需要20年消除已经酿成的危害。”

There is a bipartisan movement in Congress to reduce mandatory sentences.  But that will be left up to the Republican-controlled House and Senate in the next session.

在国会正在发起减少强制性判决的两党运动。但这将留给下一任的共和党控制的众议院和参议院解决。

1 incarceration   

n.监禁，禁闭；钳闭

参考例句：

• He hadn't changed much in his nearly three years of incarceration. 在将近三年的监狱生活中，他变化不大。 来自辞典例句
• Please, please set it free before it bursts from its long incarceration! 请你，请你将这颗心释放出来吧！否则它会因长期的禁闭而爆裂。 来自辞典例句

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

4 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

5 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

6 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

7 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

8 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

9 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

10 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

11 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

14 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

15 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 felons   

n.重罪犯( felon的名词复数 )；瘭疽；甲沟炎；指头脓炎

参考例句：

• Aren't those the seats they use for transporting convicted felons? 这些坐位不是他们用来押运重犯的吗？ 来自电影对白
• House Republicans talk of making felons out of the undocumented and those who help them. 众议院共和党议员正商议对未登记的非法移民以及包庇他们的人课以重罪。 来自互联网

17 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

18 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。