I will never forget the first time I visited a client in jail. The heavy, metal door slammed behind me, and I heard the key turn in the lock. The cement floor underneath me had a sticky film on it that made a ripping sound, like tape being pulled off a box, every time I moved my foot. The only connection to the outside world was a small window placed too high to see. There was a small, square table bolted to the floor and two metal chairs, one on either side. That was the first time I understood viscerally -- just for a fleeting moment -- what incarceration might feel like. And I promised myself all those years ago as a young, public defender that I would never, ever forget that feeling. And I never have. It inspired me to fight for each and every one of my clients' freedom as if it was my own.
我永遠忘不了我第一次 到監獄見一位客戶的經驗。 沉重的金屬門在我背後砰一聲關上, 我聽見鑰匙在鎖中轉動的聲音。 我腳下的水泥地板上面有一層黏膜, 產生一種撕扯的聲音, 每當我動一下腳就會發出 一種像是把膠帶 從盒子上撕下來的聲音。 和外面世界唯一的連結 只有高高在上的一扇小窗。 那裡有一個方形小桌子, 被用螺栓固定在地板上, 還有兩張金屬椅子, 一邊一張。 那是我第一次從內心了解到—— 僅僅在一瞬間—— 被監禁可能會有什麼感覺。 那麼多年前,身為一位 年輕的公設辯護律師, 我向自己許諾, 永遠不要忘記那種感覺。 我從來沒忘記。 它鼓舞了我,讓我為 每一位客戶的自由而戰, 如同是為自己的自由而戰。
Freedom. A concept so fundamental to the American psyche that it is enshrined in our constitution. And yet, America is addicted to imprisonment. From slavery through mass incarceration, it always has been. Look, we all know the shocking numbers. The United States incarcerates more people per capita than almost any nation on the planet. But what you may not know is that on any given night in America, almost half a million people go to sleep in those concrete jail cells who have not been convicted of anything. These mothers and fathers and sons and daughters are there for one reason and one reason only: they cannot afford to pay the price of their freedom. And that price is called bail.
自由。 對美國人來說,這個概念非常基本, 它是我們憲法的核心。 然而,美國卻對監禁上了癮。 從奴隸制度到大量監禁, 一直都是如此。 我們都知道這些數字有多驚人。 在美國被監禁的人均 幾乎比地球上任何國家都高。 但各位可能不知道, 在美國的任何一個夜晚, 有將近 50 萬人在還未被定罪前, 被關在那種水泥監獄的牢房裡過夜。 這些母親們、父親們、 兒子們、女兒們 身在牢中的原因只有一個, 他們付不起自由的價碼。 那個價碼,就稱為「保釋金」。
Now, bail was actually created as a form of conditional release. The theory was simple: set bail at an amount that somebody could afford to pay -- they would pay it -- it would give them an incentive to come back to court; it would give them some skin in the game. Bail was never intended to be used as punishment. Bail was never intended to hold people in jail cells. And bail was never, ever intended to create a two-tier system of justice: one for the rich and one for everybody else. But that is precisely what it has done.
保釋金最初是被設計為 有條件釋放的一種形式。 理論很簡單: 把保釋金設定在某人 負擔得起的價格, 他們就會付這筆錢, 這樣做會給他們 一個回到法庭的動機; 讓他們為此自掏腰包。 保釋金的本意從來 就不是要當作懲罰。 保釋金的本意從來就不是 要把人拘留在監獄牢房中。 保釋金的本意從來就不是 要創造雙重的司法體制: 一重是給富人的, 另一重則是給其他人的。 但它的結果卻是如此。
Seventy-five percent of people in American local jails are there because they cannot pay bail. People like Ramel. On a chilly October afternoon, Ramel was riding his bicycle in his South Bronx neighborhood on his way to a market to pick up a quart of milk. He was stopped by the police. And when he demanded to know why he was being stopped, an argument ensued, and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground in handcuffs, being charged with "riding your bicycle on the sidewalk and resisting arrest." He was taken to court, where a judge set 500 dollars bail. But Ramel -- he didn't have 500 dollars. So this 32-year-old father was sent to "The Boat" -- a floating jail barge that sits on the East River between a sewage plant and a fish market. That's right, you heard me. In New York City, in 2018, we have a floating prison barge that sits out there and houses primarily black and brown men who cannot pay their bail.
在美國的地方監獄中, 有 75% 的人 因為付不出保釋金被監禁。 就像拉梅爾。 在一個冷颼颼的十月下午, 拉梅爾在他的南布朗克斯 街坊騎著他的腳踏車, 前往市場去買一夸脫的牛奶。 他被警察攔下。 當他要求知道為什麼他被攔下時, 與警察發生了爭執, 他所知道的下一件事, 就是他被壓在地上戴上手銬, 被指控「在人行道上騎腳踏車 以及拒捕。」 他被送上法庭, 法官把保釋金設為美金 500 元。 但拉梅爾沒有 500 元。 這位 32 歲的父親被送上「船」—— 一台大型監獄平底船,浮在東河上, 在一個汙水處理場和 一個漁貨市場之間。 你們沒聽錯。 2018 年,在紐約市, 我們在那裡有一座漂浮監獄平底船, 裡面關的主要是黑色和棕色皮膚, 且付不出保釋金的人。
Let's talk for a moment about what it means to be in jail even for a few days. Well, it can mean losing your job, losing your home, jeopardizing your immigration status. It may even mean losing custody of your children. A third of sexual victimization by jail staff happens in the first three days in jail, and almost half of all jail deaths, including suicides, happen in that first week. What's more, if you're held in jail on bail, you're four times more likely to get a jail sentence than if you had been free, and that jail sentence will be three times longer. And if you are black or Latino and cash bail has been set, you are two times more likely to remain stuck in that jail cell than if you were white.
咱們來談一下 坐牢是什麼滋味,即使只坐幾天牢。 坐牢可能意味著失去你的工作, 失去你的房子, 危及你的移民身份。 甚至可能意味著失去孩子的監護權。 有 1/3 被監獄人員性侵的人, 是在入獄的前 3 天內發生。 監獄中的死亡,包括自殺, 有將近一半在第一週內發生。 不只如此,如果你因為 付不起保釋金而坐牢, 你被判刑入獄的可能性 是保釋在外的人的 4 倍, 且刑期會是保釋在外者的3倍長。 如果你是黑人或拉丁裔, 且已經被裁定了現金交保的金額, 你被拘留在監獄牢房的可能性, 比白人高2倍。
Jail in America is a terrifying, dehumanizing and violent experience. Now imagine for just one moment that it's you stuck in that jail cell, and you don't have the 500 dollars to get out. And someone comes along and offers you a way out. "Just plead guilty," they say. "You can go home back to your job. Just plead guilty. You can kiss your kids goodnight tonight." So you do what anybody would do in that situation. You plead guilty whether you did it or not. But now you have a criminal record that's going to follow you for the rest of your life.
在美國坐牢是非常駭人、 無人性,且暴力的經驗。 稍微試想一下,如果被困在 監獄牢房中的人是你, 你沒有 $500 可以脫身。 有人來找你,提供你一條出路。 他們說:「你只要認罪。 你就可以回家,回去工作。 只要認罪就好了。 你晚上就可以親吻 你的孩子道晚安。」 所以,你會做每個人 在那種情況下會做的事, 不管是否犯下那個罪行,你認罪了。 但,現在你就有了犯罪記錄, 它會在你餘生一直跟隨著你。
Jailing people because they don't have enough money to pay bail is one of the most unfair, immoral things we do as a society. But it is also expensive and counterproductive. American taxpayers -- they spend 14 billion dollars annually holding people in jail cells who haven't been convicted of anything. That's 40 million dollars a day. What's perhaps more confounding is it doesn't make us any safer. Research is clear that holding somebody in jail makes you significantly more likely to commit a crime when you get out than if you had been free all along.
把沒錢支付保釋金的人打入大牢, 是我們這個社會所做出 最不公平、不道德的事情之一。 這麼做不僅昂貴還有反效果。 美國納稅人 每年要花 1400 億美元, 把還沒有被定罪的人關在牢裡。 平均一天 4000 萬美元。 更莫名其妙的是, 這麼做並沒有讓我們更安全。 研究清楚指出, 當一個人被關在牢裡, 他在出獄後會犯罪的機率 顯著地比一直是自由身的人更高。
Freedom makes all the difference. Low-income communities and communities of color have known that for generations. Together, they have pooled their resources to buy their loved ones freedom for as long as bondage and jail cells existed. But the reach of the criminal legal system has grown too enormous, and the numbers are just too large. Ninety-nine percent of jail growth in America has been the result -- over the last 20 years -- of pre-trial incarceration.
自由能夠造成很大的不同。 低收入社區和有色人種社區 數世代以來都很清楚這一點。 他們一起想辦法合資 買回他們所愛的人的自由, 從有奴隸和監獄存在以來就一直如此。 但刑事司法體制能觸及的範圍 已經成長到太龐大, 數字已經太大了。 美國監獄的成長當中, 有 99% 的成因—— 在過去 20 年間—— 都是審判前的監禁。
I have been a public defender for over half my life, and I have stood by and watched thousands of clients as they were dragged into those jail cells because they didn't have enough money to pay bail. I have watched as questions of justice were subsumed by questions of money, calling into question the legitimacy of the entire American legal system. I am here to say something simple -- something obvious, but something urgent. Freedom makes all the difference, and freedom should be free.
我半生的時間擔任公設辯護律師, 我曾站在數千名客戶的身邊, 看著他們被拖入監獄牢房, 只因為他們沒錢支付保釋金。 我看著正義的問題變成了錢的問題, 讓人懷疑美國司法體制的正當性。 我來這裡要談的事情很簡單、 很明顯, 卻也很急迫。 自由能造成很大的不同, 自由應該是免費的。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
But how are we going to make that happen? Well, that's the question I was wrestling with over a decade ago when I was sitting at a kitchen table with my husband, David, who is also a public defender. We were eating our Chinese takeout and venting about the injustice of it all when David looked up and said, "Why don't we just start a bail fund, and just start bailing our clients out of jail?" And in that unexpected moment, the idea for the Bronx Freedom Fund was born.
但我們要如何實現它? 那是我十多年以前 就努力想要解決的問題, 當時我和我老公大衛坐在餐桌前, 他也是公設辯護律師。 我們一邊吃外帶的中國菜, 一邊發洩抱怨這些不公正, 那時,大衛抬起頭,說: 「我們為何不設立保釋金基金, 把我們的客戶從監獄中保釋出來?」 在那未預期的時刻, 布朗克斯自由基金的 點子就這麼誕生了。
Look, we didn't know what to expect. There were plenty of people that told us we were crazy and we were going to lose all of the money. People wouldn't come back because they didn't have any stake in it. But what if clients did come back? We knew that bail money comes back at the end of a criminal case, so it could come back into the fund, and we could use it over and over again for more and more bail. That was our big bet, and that bet paid off.
我們當時不知道該期待什麼。 有很多人告訴我們說我們瘋了, 說我們會失去所有的錢。 大家不會回來,因為他們 沒有利害關係在其中。 但如果客戶確實回來了呢? 我們知道保釋金的錢會在 刑事案件終了時還回來, 所以它會回到基金中, 我們可以不斷重覆使用它 來做更多的保釋。 那是我們的大賭注, 而這賭注得到了回報。
Over the past 10 years, we have been paying bails for low-income residents of New York City, and what we have learned has exploded our ideas of why people come back to court and how the criminal legal system itself is operated. Turns out money isn't what makes people come back to court. We know this because when the Bronx Freedom Fund pays bail, 96 percent of clients return for every court appearance, laying waste to the myth that it's money that mattered. It's powerful evidence that we don't need cash or ankle bracelets or unnecessary systems of surveillance and supervision. We simply need court reminders -- simple court reminders about when to come back to court.
在過去 10 年, 我們一直在為低收入的 紐約市居民支付保釋金, 我們所學到的,打破了我們對於 為什麼大家會返回到法庭, 以及刑事司法體制本身 如何運作的想法。 我們發現,錢並不是 讓大家回到法庭的原因。 我們知道這點,是因為當保釋金 是由布隆克斯自由基金支付時, 96 %的客戶每次出庭時都會到場, 打破了拿回保釋金是主要動機的謎思。 這是個強力證據, 證明我們不需要現金, 或電子腳鐐, 或不必要的監控和監視系統。 我們只需要法庭提醒—— 簡單的法庭提醒, 告訴我們何時要回去出庭。
Next, we learned that if you're held in jail on a misdemeanor, 90 percent of people will plead guilty. But when the fund pays bail, over half the cases are dismissed. And in the entire history of the Bronx Freedom Fund, fewer than two percent of our clients have ever received a jail sentence of any kind.
接著,我們學到的是, 如果你是因為輕罪入獄, 90% 的人會選擇認罪。 但如果由基金支付保釋金, 一半以上的案件被駁回。 在布朗克斯自由基金的整個歷史上, 我們的客戶中只有不到 2% 最後被判任何一類的徒刑.
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Ramel, a week later -- he was still on the boat, locked in that jail cell. He was on the cusp of losing everything, and he was about to plead guilty, and the Bronx Freedom Fund intervened and paid his bail. Now, reunited with his daughter, he was able to fight his case from outside. Look, it took some time -- two years, to be exact -- but at the end of that, his case was dismissed in its entirety. For Ramel --
一週後,拉梅爾還在船上, 還被關在牢房裡。 他處於即將失去一切的關口, 他已經準備認罪, 而布朗克斯自由基金介入了, 支付了他的保釋金。 現在,他和女兒團聚了, 他可以從外面來打這場官司。 花了些時間, 明確來說是2年, 但最後, 他的案件完全被駁回。 對拉梅爾而言——
(Applause)
(掌聲)
For Ramel, the Bronx Freedom Fund was a lifeline, but for countless other Americans locked in jail cells, there is no freedom fund coming. It's time to do something about that. It's time to do something big. It's time to do something bold. It's time to do something, maybe, audacious?
對拉梅爾而言, 布朗克斯自由基金是他的生命線, 但對其他無數被關在 監獄牢房中的美國人而言, 沒有自由基金來幫他們。 為此,該是做點什麼的時候了。 該是做點什麼大事的時候了。 該是無畏地做點什麼的時候了。 也許,該是大膽妄為的時候了?
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
We want to take our proven, revolving bail-fund model that we built in the Bronx and spread it across America, attacking the front end of the legal system before incarceration begins.
我們想要用我們在布朗克斯區 建立,且已經證實有用的 循環式保釋金模型, 把它傳播到整個美國, 去攻擊司法體制的前端, 在監禁之前就先攻擊。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
(Cheers)
(歡呼)
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Here's the plan.
計畫如下。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
We're going to bail out as many people as we can as quickly as we can. Over the next five years, partnering with public defenders and local community organizations, we're going to set up 40 sites in high-need jurisdictions. The goal is to bail out 160,000 people. Our strategy leverages the fact that bail money comes back at the end of a case. Data from the Bronx shows that a dollar can be used two or three times a year, creating a massive force multiplier. So a dollar donated today can be used to pay bail for up to 15 people over the next five years. Our strategy also relies on the experience and the wisdom and the leadership of those who have experienced this injustice firsthand.
我們要盡可能把更多人保釋出來, 且盡快做到。 在接下來5年, 與公設辯護律師 及地方社區組織合作, 我們將會在有高度需求的 轄區內設立 40 個點。 目標是要保釋 16 萬人。 為了使我們的策略要發揮功效, 保釋金需要在案件結束後 能夠拿回來。 來自布朗克斯的資料 顯示在一年內, 每一元能夠被使用 2~3 次, 創造出很巨大的倍數力量。 所以今天捐獻的 1 元, 在接下來 5 年,可以被用來支付 高達 15 個人的保釋金。 我們的策略也要仰賴那些 第一手經驗到不公平的人 所提供的經驗、智慧與領導能力。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Each bail project site will be staffed by a team of bail disrupters. These are passionate, dedicated advocates from local communities, many of whom were formerly incarcerated themselves, who will pay bails and support clients while their cases are going through the legal system, providing them with whatever resources and support they may need. Our first two sites are up and running. One in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and one in St. Louis, Missouri. And Ramel? He's training right now to be a bail disrupter in Queens County, New York.
每個保釋專案據點都會 有一個保釋破壞者團隊。 他們都是來自當地社區, 有熱忱、肯投入的擁護者, 當中有許多人自己曾被監禁過, 他們會支付保釋金並在客戶的案件 經過司法體制的過程中支持他們, 提供任何他們需要的資源及支助。 我們的前兩個據點已經上路了。 一個在奧克拉荷馬州的土爾沙市, 另一個在密蘇里州的聖路易市。 而拉梅爾呢? 他正在受訓,為了要成為 紐約皇后區的保釋破壞者。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Our next three sites are ready to launch in Dallas, Detroit and Louisville, Kentucky. The Bail Project will attack the money bail system on an unprecedented scale. We will also listen, collect and elevate and honor the stories of our clients so that we can change hearts and minds, and we will collect critical, national data that we need so we can chart a better path forward so that we do not recreate this system of oppression in just another form. The Bail Project, by bailing out 160,000 people over the next five years, will become one of the largest non-governmental decarcerations of Americans in history.
我們接下來的三個 據點也準備營運了, 在達拉斯、底特律, 以及肯塔基州的路易維爾。 保釋專案將會攻擊金錢保釋體制, 且攻勢是史無前例的。 我們也會傾聽、收集、提升, 並向我們客戶的故事致敬, 使我們能去改變人的心和想法, 我們也會收集重要的全國性資料。 我們需要這些資料 才能找出更好的方式向前行, 才不會只是讓這壓迫體制 以另一種形式重現。 保釋專案 要在接下來 5 年保釋出 16 萬人, 它將會成為美國史上最大的 非政府主導的解除監禁行動。
So look --
所以,
(Applause)
(掌聲)
the criminal legal system, as it exists -- it needs to be dismantled. But here's the thing I know from decades in the system: real, systemic change takes time, and it takes a variety of strategies. So it's going to take all of us. It's going to take the civil rights litigators, the community organizers, the academics, the media, the philanthropists, the students, the singers, the poets, and, of course, the voices and efforts of those who are impacted by this system. But here's what I also know: together, I believe we can end mass incarceration.
刑事司法體制,只要它繼續存在, 它就需要被拆除。 以我在這個體制中數十年的經驗, 我知道真正的體制改變會需要時間, 也需要各種策略才能辦到。 所以,它需要我們所有人參與。 它需要民權訴訟律師、 社區組織者、學界、媒體、慈善家、 學生、歌手、詩人, 當然,它也需要在這個體制中 受到影響的人能發聲並貢獻心力。 但,我還知道一件事: 我相信,如果我們同心協力, 就能終止大規模監禁。
But one last thing: those people, sitting in America, in those jail cells, in every corner of the country, who are held in jail on bail bondage, right now -- they need a lifeline today. That's where The Bail Project comes in. We have a proven model, a plan of action, and a growing network of bail disrupters who are audacious enough to dream big and fight hard, one bail at a time, for as long it takes, until true freedom and equal justice are a reality in America.
還有最後一件事: 那些人,在美國各地的監獄裡, 現在只因為付不出保釋金 而被迫坐牢的那些人, 他們現在就需要生命線。 這就是保釋專案派上用場的地方。 我們有已經證明的模型、行動計畫, 還有不斷成長的保釋破壞者網路, 這些人夠大膽無畏, 敢作大夢並努力奮戰, 一個人一個人去保釋, 不論要花多少時間, 直到真正的自由和平等的正義 成為美國的現實。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)