VOA慢速英語: 奧巴馬呼吁國家刑法司法體系改革

President Barack Obama is calling for major changesto the American criminal justice system. He says problems in the currentsystem are ones that the country can no longer ignore.

美國總統(tǒng)奧巴馬呼吁改革本國的犯罪司法體系。他稱現行的司法體系已不為本國接受。

"In far too many cases," Mr. Obama said, "the punishment simply doesn't fitthe crime." He spoke in Philadelphia this week at a meeting of the NationalAssociation for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP. Theorganization works in support of racial equality throughout the United States.

U.S. President Barack Obama, the first sitting president to visit a federal prison, speaks during his visit to the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution outside Oklahoma City, July 16, 2015.

他這周在費城與國家有色人種發(fā)展機構（簡稱NAACP）的會議上發(fā)言，到目前為止，許多對罪行的懲罰已經不符合。

The president said the US jails as many people as the top 35 Europeannations combined. Currently, 2.2 million people are in held in US prisons.African-Americans and Latinos are jailed for non-violent drug crimes at muchhigher rates than other groups of people.

總統(tǒng)表示，美國服刑人員數量在歐洲國家排名35，現在，美國監(jiān)獄服刑人員有兩千兩百萬名，非裔美國人和拉丁美洲人因非暴力毒品走私而排其它犯罪團伙之首。

"Our criminal justice system isn't as smart as it should be," Mr. Obama said. "It's not keeping us safe as it should be. It is not as fair as it should be. Mass incarceration makes our country worse off."

“我們的刑法體系缺乏靈活感，而靈活本該是一個刑法體系所具備的”，奧巴馬稱，“這沒有給我們帶來應有的安全，大范圍的監(jiān)禁使我們的國家更加糟糕”

In his speech, the president suggested either changing or removing laws thatrequire courts to give jail sentences as punishment for non-violent drugcrimes. He also said there should be more job training programs for peoplewhile they are in prison.

奧巴馬在講話中建議修改或移除法庭的判處非暴力毒品罪的有期徒刑。他還表示，應該為這些服刑人員提供更多的工作訓練項目。

In addition, Mr. Obama announced that the Department of Justice wouldexamine the use of ‘solitary confinement’ in US prisons. This is a method ofpunishment where prisoners are placed alone in small rooms for long periods.Studies have shown that solitary confinement can have damagingpsychological effects on prisoners.

奧巴馬補充道，司法部門應該檢查美國“單獨押禁”的作用。單獨囚禁就是長時間將犯人單獨關在一間牢房。調查顯示，單獨囚禁對犯人的心理會有消極影響。

The president urged Congress to approve a sentencing reform bill by the endof the year. He admitted that many people need to be in prison, among them"murderers, predators, rapists [and] gang leaders." However, he said that intoo many cases, those enforcing the law treat young blacks and Latino mendifferently than white Americans.

總統(tǒng)敦促國會今年年底通過一項判處罪行的法案。他承認有許多人需要被關進牢房，這些人是殺人者，搶劫者，強奸犯和犯罪團伙頭目。但是在許多案例中，法律對待少年黑人和拉美人民不同于白人。

He said African Americans and Latinos received longer jail sentences thanwhites for similar crimes. "About one in every 35 African American men, andone out of every 88 Latino men, is [in prison] right now,"he added.

他聲稱非裔美國人和拉美人因為同一案件接受到的服刑懲罰比白人要長。他補充道，幾乎每35個非裔人里和每88個拉美人里就有一個在監(jiān)獄服刑。

His speech came a day after he commuted the jail time of 46 federal prisoners. Their sentences were reduced or cancelled. Each of the prisonerswas sent to jail for a non-violent drug crime. The president's action was part ofhis effort to reform the criminal justice system.

他為46名聯邦犯人減刑后發(fā)表的這項演說。這46民聯邦罪犯或被減刑或被取消刑罰，他們每個人都是非暴力毒品犯罪?？偨y(tǒng)的這項舉動是他為改革刑法體系的努力的一部分。

The 46 prisoners were in jail for crimes involving the drug crack-cocaine. Theminimum time in prison for such crimes is much higher than for crimesrelated to regular cocaine. Most of the prisoners would already be free if theyhad been sent to prison today, the Obama administration said. Fourteen wereserving life prison sentences.

這46名犯罪人員因涉嫌制造毒品罪被刑拘。這樣的罪行最少的服刑年限都比其它有關毒品犯罪的判處年限要長。奧巴馬行政人員表示大多數服刑人員如果今天被關進監(jiān)獄，他們已經做好了出獄的準備。有14名犯罪人員判處終身監(jiān)禁。

"These men and women were not hard criminals," the president said. "Ibelieve, at its heart, America is a nation of second chances, and I believethese [people] deserve their second chance."

“些男人和女人的罪行都不嚴重”，總統(tǒng)表示，“我相信，在美利堅，從本質上是能有二次機會的國家，我相信這些人渴望再給他們提供一次機會。”

The administration said Mr. Obama would be willing to commute moresentences in the coming months if the conditions were right. "The statisticscannot be ignored. We cannot close our eyes anymore," he said.

行政人員稱如果條件合適的話，奧巴馬樂意在未來的幾個月內為更多的人減刑。數據是不可忽視的。我們不能再緊閉雙眼，無觀事實了。

I’m Pete Musto.

This report was based on a story from VOANews.com. Pete Musto adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

mass incarceration– n. large numbers of people put in prison

sentence – n. the punishment given by a court of law

minimum – adj. least or lowest amount

psychological – adj. of or relating to the mind

predator– n. someone who wants to use, control, or harm other people insome way

gang – n. a group of people who take part in illegal activity

commute– v. to reduce or cancel a form of punishment

crack-cocaine – n. a processed form of the drug cocaine