Home
Anmelden
Registrieren
Lerninhalte
Loading...
Hörübung
Hörübung
/
Video
/
VOX
/
How America's justice system is rigged against the poor
How America's justice system is rigged against the poor
Lernmodus auswählen:
Untertitel ansehen
Wort wählen
Wort umschreiben
Highlight:
3000 Oxford Words
4000 IELTS Words
5000 Oxford Words
3000 Common Words
1000 TOEIC Words
5000 TOEFL Words
Untertitel (64)
0:12
I think most Americans believe that after you commit a crime and pay your debt to society,
0:16
the punishment ends.
0:17
You have the chance to rebuild your life and get a fresh start.
0:20
But the reality is much harsher.
0:22
We punish people with criminal records long after they’ve paid their debt to society.
0:26
And we all suffer for it.
0:28
Even simply being accused of a crime is just the beginning of “perpetual punishment”:
0:33
a cycle of legalized discrimination, poverty, and reincarceration; a cycle kept in motion
0:39
by 47,000 laws and regulations nationwide that restrict critical rights and opportunities.
0:46
After contact with the criminal justice system, millions of Americans are: denied employment
0:50
and housing, denied college educations, excluded from public benefits, separated from their
0:55
children, deported, despite being legal residents.
1:01
These restrictions trap the poor and people of color in invisible cages that extend far
1:05
beyond prison walls and criminal courts.
1:08
Cages that lead to a lifetime of obstacles that undermine even the most earnest efforts
1:12
at rehabilitation and redemption.
1:15
Cages that send the message: You will never be a part of society again.
1:20
This is not some isolated problem.
1:23
95% of all incarcerated people will return home at some point.
1:27
Each year, more than 600,000 people are released from jails and prisons.
1:33
That’s roughly the population of Boston or Seattle.
1:37
Millions more are completing non-jail sentences like probation, community service, or fines.
1:44
As a reentry specialist at Brooklyn Defender Services, a public defense firm representing
1:49
45,000 clients per year, I work on the front lines to help people with criminal histories
1:54
overcome their past and navigate the obstacles of their present, so they can build a sustainable
1:59
future.
2:00
I try to help folks take responsibility for their own lives.
2:04
But it’s hard to do when the outlook is so bleak.
2:07
Even for low-level offenses and misdemeanors, the aftermath of one individual’s experience
2:11
with the criminal justice system ripples out to entire families and neighborhoods, and
2:16
gets passed down from generation to generation.
2:19
The result: more poverty, more crime, more incarceration.
2:23
I see Javon, an 18-year-old young man who cannot live with or even visit his family,
2:29
and cannot find an affordable apartment, because he was convicted of gun possession and banned
2:33
from all public housing.
2:35
I see the dangerous shelters and street corners where he’ll sleep.
2:38
I worry about what he's going to have to do to survive; how long it’ll be before he’s
2:43
back behind bars.
2:44
I see how society loses when Judy, a 58-year-old grandmother charged with a misdemeanor, is
2:50
fired after her arrest and barred from her lifelong profession as a home health aide.
2:55
Unable to work, she’s faced with eviction and can’t support her family.
3:00
When Malik, a 26-year-old father, is denied the opportunity to further his education because
3:04
of the mistakes of his past, I think about how he and so many others are set up to fail.
3:09
How a conviction on a rap sheet is only a snapshot of a moment in time, when all of
3:13
us are dynamic, changing over time.
3:16
The criminal justice system disenfranchises these men and women, preventing them from
3:20
growing, from truly being free.
3:23
I am among the very few fortunate enough to be living a second chance.
3:27
Three decades ago, I was involved in a crime that took the life of another human being.
3:32
I spent over 24 years in prison for my role in that reprehensible crime.
3:36
While incarcerated, I had the chance to participate in a pilot program, offered to only 15 inmates,
3:42
that allowed me to pursue a formal education.
3:44
Upon release, I found an employer willing to look beyond my criminal record; one that
3:49
saw the hard lessons I learned in prison as an asset, not a liability.
3:55
Affording people a real opportunity to reenter society isn’t just good for individuals
3:59
and families; it’s good for all of us.
4:01
Meaningful reentry increases productivity, reduces poverty, and saves money.
4:07
Most importantly, it makes us safer, by eliminating the circumstances that perpetuate cycles of
4:12
crime and punishment.
4:14
People already get punished harshly by the system — but they should not receive a second
4:18
sentence that makes discriminating against them legal for the rest of their lives.
4:23
By restoring full rights of citizenship to people after they’ve been through the system,
4:27
we can start to end this cycle of perpetual punishment.
4:30
We can start to abolish the justice trap.
