首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Necessity can spur novelty. Even political novelty. As the need for fiscal austerity grows, an unlikely alliance has emerged bet
Necessity can spur novelty. Even political novelty. As the need for fiscal austerity grows, an unlikely alliance has emerged bet
admin
2014-09-09
73
问题
Necessity can spur novelty. Even political novelty. As the need for fiscal austerity grows, an unlikely alliance has emerged between policymakers and public advocates who have long sought criminal-justice reform. These policymakers are realizing what advocates have reiterated for years: The nation’s addiction to incarceration as a curb on crime must end. The evidence is staggering. In California, 54 prisoners may share a single toilet and 200 prisoners may live in a gymnasium supervised by two or three officers. Suicidal inmates may be held for protracted periods in cages without toilets and the wait times for mental-health care sometimes reach 12 months.
Citing these conditions and more, the US Supreme Court ruled in May that California prisoners were deprived of adequate access to mental and medical health care in violation of the Eighth Amendment and its prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Prison overcrowding is ubiquitous: Between 1970 and 2005, the nation’s inmate population grew by 700 percent. Besides impeding access to health care, overcrowding also creates unsafe and unsanitary conditions, diverts prison resources away from education and social development, and forces low-and high-risk offenders to mingle, increasing the likelihood of recidivism.
Expect additional lawsuits. That’s why a consortium of states submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the state of California. America’s overreliance on incarceration has also impeded the rights of criminal defendants. The Sixth Amendment guarantees legal representation to individuals charged with a crime. Yet, because of the crushing volume of cases, indigent defense programs often suffer from inadequate staffing, funding, and supervision. In Kentucky, a public defender may represent more than 450 clients in a single year. In Miami, the annual case load is nearly 500 felonies and 2,225 misdemeanors. The consequences include wrongful incarceration, wrongful convictions, and guilty pleas when meritorious defenses are available.
Civil rights groups in Michigan and New York have already brought lawsuits seeking an overhaul of their states’ indigent defense systems. These lawsuits might be a harbinger for the future; States unfaithful to the promise of the Sixth Amendment may be forced to increase funding and restructure priorities. Protecting prisoners and criminal defendants is about recognizing that they are acutely vulnerable because they do not have access to coalitions and political networks capable of effecting change. Affording them protection is consistent with the enduring constitutional principle that political democracy alone cannot adequately protect the rights of certain groups of people. The solution?
First, revamp habitual-offender laws, now in effect in more than 20 states, which regularly yield perverse sentences. California’s three-strikes law, for example, was passed during the paranoia that followed the searing murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas by a longtime violent offender, and is so egregiously punitive that nonviolent petty theft may serve as a "third strike. " A new ballot initiative in California seeks to change this law.
Second, implement misdemeanor reform by decriminalizing offenses such as feeding the homeless, dog-leash violations. Such reform is vital: Between 1972 and 2006, misdemeanor prosecutions rose from 5 million to 10. 5 million.
Third, limit the use of pretrial detention. Nearly two-thirds of the nation’s prison population haven’t been convicted of a crime; they are awaiting trial. Many are arrested for low-risk offenses such as disturbing the peace or traffic violations, and they languish in jail because they can’t afford bail. Releasing these individuals would not jeopardize public safety and would reduce overcrowding and public defender caseloads. Last year, Kentucky terminated pre-trial detention for numerous drug offenses and mandated citations rather than arrests for certain misdemeanors.
Fourth, impose nonprison penalties on those arrested for technical parole and probation violations like missing a meeting or court appearance. This would dramatically cut overcrowding and caseloads given that more than a third of all prison admissions are for such types of violations. Texas has significantly reduced its inmate population.
The spirit that animates the Sixth and Eighth Amendments is human dignity. No matter the crime or harm, criminal defendants and prisoners retain a dignity. Just over 40 years ago, a group of inmates claimed they were deprived of this dignity and, in what has since become a subject of fascination in pop culture, rioted at Attica Correctional Facility in New York. The violence and its death toll serves as an ominous reminder that America must pursue criminal-justice reform if it is to honor this dignity.
The word "incarceration"(para. 1)used in the passage can best be replaced by______.
选项
A、punishment
B、intervention
C、interrogation
D、imprisonment
答案
D
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/lXSO777K
本试题收录于:
NAETI高级口译笔试题库外语翻译证书(NAETI)分类
0
NAETI高级口译笔试
外语翻译证书(NAETI)
相关试题推荐
Itneveroccurredtohimthatheandhisdoingwerenotofthemostintenseandfascinatinginteresttoanyonewithwhomhecame
Bush’sMBATwenty-sixof42presidents,includingBillClinton,werelawyers.Sevenweregenerals.GeorgeW.Bushbecomesth
WhenDidAidsBegin?Theyearwas1959.Location:thecentralAfricancityofLeopoldville,nowcalledKinshasa,shortlybef
Inthepopularmind,theInternetistherealizationoftheglobalvillage,wheretheflowofinformationandideasisunimpeded
Socialcontrolreferstosocialprocesses,plannedorunplanned,bywhichpeoplearetaught,persuaded,orforcedtoconformto
Theonlineshopaimstofilteroutallofthechemicalsandvenomoussubstancesthatgointomanysupplements,replacingthemwi
KansasandIowa,richinwindresources,canprovidemoreelectricitythanotherstates.
A、Theyarefascinatedbyallkindsofsounds.B、Theyareinterestedinnoises.C、Theyarekeenonplayingthepiano.D、Theyare
A、30million.B、92million.C、100million.D、115million.B
Thebookopenswithabroadsurvey,inpartⅠ,ofthehistoricalliteratureontechnicalchange.Itattemptstoprovideaguide
随机试题
带宽为4000Hz的噪声信道,信噪比为1023,求信道容量。
李某因涉嫌抢劫,经某市检察机关批准,由公安机关依法逮捕,在侦查机关告知李某所享有的权利后,犯罪嫌疑人李某委托某律师事务所律师刘某为其提供法律帮助。在办理委托手续过程中,律师刘某宣扬某市的检察机关和人民法院都有自己的同学,好办事,并承诺,如让其继续担任本案辩
1999年,重庆市天南建材集团有限公司(以下简称“天南公司")下属的城南水泥厂为了扩大生产,计划将其厂内原2.2米的窑径改为2.5米。在改建过程中,城南水泥厂认为该项目仅仅是扩大机立窑的窑径,送风的罗茨风机并未改大,而且改造的目的是使气流通过面积增大,让窑
TheFirstSettlementinNorthAmericaItisverydifficulttosayjustwhencolonization(殖民)began.Thefirsthundredyears
使Q-T间期延长的药物是:预激综合征引起的快速心律失常可选:
[背景资料]某框架一剪力墙结构,框架柱间距9m,普通框架结构,采用预拌混凝土,钢筋现场加工,采用多层板模碗扣支撑。施工过程中,发生如下事件:事件一:项目部编制《施工组织设计》中规定:钢筋焊接方法采用搭接焊;钢筋机械连接采用钢筋套筒挤压连接;钢筋接头位
关于安全生产管理制度的说法,正确的有()。
下列有关外币项目的表述中,正确的有()。
一、注意事项 1.申论考试,与传统作文考试不同,是对分析驾驭材料的能力、解决问题能力、语言表达能力的测试。 2.作答参考时限:阅读材料40分钟,作答110分钟。 3.仔细阅读给定的材料,按照后面提出的“申论要求”依次作答。二、给定材料 学
一位研究者报告重复测量的方差分析中,F检验的结果是F(2,8)=4.290,根据此结果可知研究中有______个被试。()
最新回复
(
0
)