About Criminal Justice System
关于刑事公正体系
I'm interested in the criminal justice system of our country. It seems to me that something has to be done if we are to survive as a country. I certainly don't know what the answers to our problems are. Things certainly get complicated in a hurry when you get into them. But I wonder if something couldn't be done to deal with some of these problems.
我对我国的刑事公正感兴趣。对于我而言,我们国家生存下去就必须做些事。我当然不知道问题的答案。当你深入了解以后,问题自然会变得复杂。但是,我在想处理其中的一些问题时,是否有些事不能做。
One thing I'm concerned about is our pratice of putting offenders in jail who haven't harmed anyone. Why not work out some system whereby they can pay back the debts they owe society instead of incurring another debt by going to prison, and of course, coming under the inflluence of hardened criminals.
我考虑的事情之一是我们把一些罪犯关进监狱,但他们并没有伤害任何人。为什么不制定出一些体系,他们可以借此偿还欠社会的债,而不是由于被关进监狱,受到那些强硬的犯罪分子的影响而对社会欠下其他的债务。
I'm also concerned about the short prison sentences people are serving for serious crimes. Of course, one alternative to this is to restore capital punishment, but I'm not sure I would be for that. I'm not sure it's right to take an eye for eye. The alternative to capital punishment is longer sentences, but they would certainly cost the tax payers much money.
我还关心那些被判短期徒刑却犯有重罪的人们。当然,选择之一是恢复死刑,但是我不确定是否会支持该做法。我不坑定以牙还牙是否正确。代替死刑的另一选择是长期徒刑,但是这无疑将花去纳税人更多的钱。
I also think we must do something about the insanity plea. In my opinion, anyone who takes another person's life intentionally is insane; however, that does not mean that the person isn't guilty of the crime, or that he shouldn't pay society the debt he owes. It's sad, of course, that a person may have to spend rest of his life, or a large part of it in prison for acts that he committed while not in full control of his mind.
我还认为我们应该为无罪辩护做些什么。在我看来,任何人故意夺走别人的生命都是疯狂的;然而,这并不意味着这个人没有犯罪,或者说他不应该向社会偿还他所欠的债。当然,一个人要为他在意识失控的情况下所犯的罪在监狱中度过余生或生命中的大部分时光是令人难过的。