I was sitting at the

我和我的太太卡地亞 (Katya)

kitchen table with my wife Katya,

坐在廚房的餐桌上

and we were talking about what I was gonna talk about today.

討論我今天應該講的題目

We have an 11-year-old son; his name is Lincoln. He was sitting at the same table

我們有一個11歲大的兒子，他的名字叫林肯(Lincoln)

doing his math homework.

正在做數學作業。

And during a pause in my conversation

當我和卡地亞的對話暫停之際

with Katya, I looked over at Lincoln

我望一望林肯

and I was suddenly thunderstruck

一下子像被雷打中一樣

by a recollection of a client of mine.

我當時想起我曾經的一個客戶“

My client was a guy named Will.

他名叫威廉

He was from North Texas.

他家鄉在德州北部

He never knew his father very well, because his father left

他對父親沒有清晰的印象，因為他父親

his mom while she was pregnant with him.

在他母親懷著他的時候把兩人拋棄

And so, he was destined to be raised by a single mom,

所以，他在命中注定了要由他的單親媽媽養大

which might have been all right

原本，這個也並非甚麼大問題

except that this particular single mom

可是這一個母親

was a paranoid schizophrenic,

患有偏執型精神分裂症

and when Will was five years old she try to kill him with butcher's knife.

當威廉還是五歲的時候，她就試圖以屠刀把他殺死

She was

她最後

taken away by authorities and placed in a psychiatric hospital.

被執法當局帶走並關在精神病院

and so for the next several years Will lived with his older brother.

在往後的幾年間，小威廉一直跟他的哥哥同住

until he committed suicide by shooting himself through the heart.

直至他哥哥一槍打進自己的心房自殺

And after that

從此以後

Will bounced around from one family member to another.

威廉像人球一樣被推到不同的親戚家中

until, by the time he was nine years old, he was essentially living on himself.

直至他九歲那年以後，他就自己獨自生活

That morning that I was sitting with Catia and Lincoln, i looked at my son.

那天早上，當我坐在卡地亞和林肯旁邊，我看著兒子林肯

and I realized that when my client, Will,

我發覺當我的當時人威廉

was his age,

和我兒子一樣大的時候

he'd been living by himself for two years.

他已經獨個兒生活兩年了

Will eventually joined a gang

威廉最後加入了黑社會

and committed

亦犯下了

a number of very serious crimes,

一連串的嚴重罪行

including, most seriously of all,

包括，最嚴重的

a horrible, tragic murder.

令人心寒的、兇殺悲劇

And Will was ultimately executed

威廉最後被處決

as punishment for that crime.

作為他犯罪的懲罰

But I don't want to

但我今天並非

talk today

要談論

about the morality of capital punishment. I certainly think that my client

有關死刑的道德問題。我當然不認為

shouldn't have been executed, but what I would like to do today instead

我的當時人應該受到死刑這制裁，但我今天想

is talk about the death penalty

以一種我從未試過的方式

in a way I've never done before,

去談論死刑

in a way

我要探討的事

that is entirely noncontroversial.

是完全沒有爭議的

I think that's possible,

我認為這是可能的

because there is a corner

因為這場死刑辯論當中

of the death penalty debate --

有一個角落

maybe the most important corner --

可能是最重要的角落

where everybody agrees,

是所有人都認同的

where the most ardent death penalty supporters

即使是那些對於保留死刑的忠實支持者

and the most vociferous abolitionists

或是那些最暄嚷的、支持廢除死刑的人

are on exactly the same page.

都會站在同一陣線

That's the corner I want to explore.

這就是我要探討的角落

Before I do that, though, I want to spend a couple of minutes telling you how a death

在這之前，我希望用幾分鐘的時間去告訴你們

penalty case unfolds,

一個死刑的判決是怎樣開展的

and then I want to tell you two lessons that I have learned over the last 20 years

接著我會告訴你，這二十年裏

as a death penalty lawyer,

我作為死刑律師

from watching well more than a hundred cases unfold in this way.

處理一百多個案件的其中兩課

You can think of a death penalty case as a story

你可以把一個死刑的案件

that has four chapters.

當作有四個章節的故事

The first chapter of every case is exactly the same,

每個案件的第一章都是一樣

and it is tragic.

悲哀的

It begins with the murder

它從一宗

of an innocent human being,

無辜受害者被殺的事件開始

and it's followed by a trial

接著是審訊

where the murderer is convicted and sent to death row,

殺人犯被定罪並被判死刑

and that death sentence is ultimately

之後死刑的判決

upheld by the state appellate court.

州的上訴法院維持原判

The second chapter consists of a complicated legal proceeding known as..

第二章是一個複雜的司法程序

a state habeas corpus appeal.

叫做州人身保護令上訴

The third chapter is an even more complicated legal proceeding known as a

第三章是一個更為繁複的司法程序

federal habeas corpus proceeding.

叫做聯邦人身保護令審裁

And the fourth chapter

之後的第四章中

is one where a variety of things can happen. The lawyers might file a clemency petition,

一系列的事情可以發生。律師們可能會可能會提出特赦申請

they might initiate even more complex litigation.

他們可能會啟動更繁複的訴訟

or they might not do anything at all.

又或者他們甚麼都不再做

But that fourth chapter always ends

但第四章很多時都會

with an execution.

以執行死刑為終結

When I started representing death row inmates more than twenty years ago

二十多年前，當我開始作死囚代表律師的時候

people on death row did not have a right to a lawyer and even the second

被判死刑的人在第二或第四章的時候

or the fourth chapter of this story.

並沒有聘請律師作辯護的權利

They were on their own.

他們需要獨自面對審判

In fact, it wasn't until the late 1980s that they acquired a

實際上，一九八零年代以前

right to a lawyer during the third chapter

他們在故事的第三章裏

of the story.

都沒有聘請代表律師的權利

So what all of these death row inmates had to do

所以這些被判死刑的人

was rely on volunteer lawyers

只能夠依靠義務律師

to handle their legal proceedings.

去處理他們的司法程序

The problem is that there were way more

問題是，那些被判死刑的人的數目

than there were lawyers who had both the interest and the expertise to work on these cases.

遠遠多於那些既願意幫助死囚，又有具備專門知識的律師的數目

And so inevitably,

無可避免地

lawyers drifted to cases that were already in chapter 4.

律師們都會先處理已經到了第四章的死囚案件

that makes sense, of course. Those are the cases in the most urgent.

這不難埋解，因為這些案件都比較趕急

those are the guys who are closest to being executed.

這些死囚都在被處決的最邊緣

Some of these lawyers were successful; they managed to get new trials for their clients.

有一些律師成功了；他們為當時人爭取新的審訊

Others of them managed to extend life for their clients sometimes by...

其他律師就爭取了延長他們當時人的生命

years, sometimes by months.

有時幾年，有時幾個月

But the one thing that didn't happen

但有一種事並沒有發生

was that there was never a serious and sustained decline in the number of

那就是德州的行刑數目，以年計

annual executions in Texas.

一直沒有重大而持久的下降趨勢

In fact, as you can see from this graph, from the time that Texas access execution.

實際上，看看這個圖表，德州在一九九零年代

apparatus got efficient in the mid-to-late 1990s.

添置了足夠的行刑工具後

there've only been a couple of years where the number of annual executions dip..

只有少數年份，行刑數子以年計

below 20.

在二十以下

In a typical year in Texas,

在一個普通的年份

we're averaging about

德州每個月處決

two people a month.

兩個人

In some years in Texas, we've executed close the forty people and this number..

在某些年份，德州每年處決近四十人

has never significantly declined over the last fifteen years.

這個數字在過去的十五年間一直沒有顯著的下降

And yet, at the same time that we continue to execute

但是，在我們每年繼續處決

about the same number of people every

相當數量的死囚的同時

the number of people who we're sentencing to death

實際上我們的法庭

on an annual basis

以年計大幅減少了

has dropped rather steeply.

作出死刑的裁決

So we have this paradox,

現在我們有這個矛盾

which is that the number of annual executions remained high.

一方面被行刑的數字一直居高不下

but the number of new death sentences has going down.

另一方面新增的死刑裁決一直下降

Why is that?

為甚麼會這樣呢

It can't be attributed to a decline in the murder rate,

謀殺案罪案率下降並不能解釋這個現象

because the murder rate has not declined

因為罪案率在這幾年間並沒有

nearly so steeply as the red line on that graph is going down.

像圖表中的紅線下降得一樣厲害

What has happened instead is

真正的原因是

that juries have started to sentence more and more people to prison.

仲裁員傾向將犯人判以

for the rest of their lives without the possibility of parole.

沒有假釋機會的終身監禁

rather than sending them to the execution chamber.

多於送他們到行刑室

Why has that happened?

為甚麼會這樣呢

it hasn't happened because of a dissolution of popular supports.

這個情況發生並不是因為公眾對死刑的支持已經瓦解

for the death penalty. Death penalty opponents take great solace in the fact

反對死刑的人因為德州對死刑的支持度

that death penalty support in Texas is at the all-time low.

跌至新低而得到慰藉

Do you know what all-time low in Texas means?

你知道“新低”的意思嗎?

It means that it's in the low 60 percent.

這是指稍為多於百分之六十

Now that's really good compared to the mid-1980s when they was in

相對上世紀八十年代

excess of 80 percent,

多於百分之八十的支持度，這已是很好了

but we can't explain the decline in death sentence and the afinity for

但我們不能以民眾對死刑的支持度減少

life without the possibility of parole by an erotion of support for the death

去解釋死刑減少與無期徒刑增加的倩況

penalty, because people still support the death penalty.

因為大部分的民眾還是支持死刑

What's happened to cause this phenomenon?

那甚麼促使這個情況發生呢?

What's happened is

這個由於

that lawyers

那些代表死囚的律師

who represent death row inmates have shifted their focus

將他們的焦點移到

to earlier and earlier chapters of the death penalty story

死刑故事較早、較早的章節

So 25 years ago, they focused on chapter four

二十五年前，他們聚焦在第四章

And they went from chapter four 25 years ago to chapter three

大概二十五年前，即是八十年代後期

in the late 1980s.

他們改為聚焦在第三章

And they went from chapter three in the late 1980s to chapter two

到九十年代中期，他們從第三章改為聚焦在第二章

in the mid-1990s. And beginning in the mid-to-late 1990s

直到九十年代中至後期

they began to focus on chapter one of the story

他們將焦點放在故事的第一章

Now you might think that this decline in death sentences and the increases in the

現在，你或許會對死刑數目減少和

number of life sentences is a good thing or a bad thing

無期徒刑的增長有正面或負面的看法

I don't want to have a conversation about that today.

我今天不想觸及這個問題

All that I want to tell you is that the reasons of these was happened

我想說的，是這個情況發生的原因

is because death penalty lawyers have understood

死囚代表律師明白到

that the earlier you intervene in a case

你愈早介入一個案件

the greater the likelihood that you're going to save your client's life.

你更加容易保住你當時人的性命

That's the first thing I've learned.

這是我學到的第一件事

Here's the second thing I learned:

第二件事我學到的:

My client Will

我的當時人威廉

was not the exception to the rule;

他的故事不是一個例外

he was the rule.

他本身就是一個典型的例子

I sometimes say, if you tell me the name of a death row inmate

我有時會說－如果你給我一個死囚的名字

doesn't matter what state he's in, doesn't matter if I've ever met him before --

不論他在哪一個州，不論我跟他有沒有相遇過

I'll write his biography for you.

我都可以替他寫一篇傳記

And eight out of 10 times,

十次裏面有八次

the details of that biography

傳記的細節

will be more or less accurate.

多多少少都是準確的

And the reason for that is that 80 percent of the people on death row are

這是因為百分之八十的死囚

people who came from the same sort of dysfunctional family that will did.

都像威廉一樣來自一些無法起效的家庭

Eighty percent of the people on death row

百分之八十的死囚

are people who had exposure

都曾經接觸過

to the juvenile justice system.

少年司法制度

That's the second lesson

這是我學到的

that I've learned.

第二課

Now we're right on the cusp of that corner

現在，我們應該達到了

where everybody's going to agree.

一個大家都認同的共識

People in this room might disagree

這個演講廳裏的人可能不同意

about whether Will should have been executed

威廉應否被處以死刑

but I think everybody would agree

我的相信所有人都會同意

that the best possible version of his story

這個故事最佳的版本

would be a story

會是沒有兇殺案發的

where no murder ever occurs.

一個故事

How do we do that?

我們可以怎樣做呢?

When our son Lincoln was working on that math problems

我的兒子林肯在兩星期前

two weeks ago, it was a big, gnarly problem.

嘗試解答他的數學難題。那是一個很大、很複雜的問題

And he was learning how, when you have a big old gnarly problem,

他學習到，當你要解決一個很大、很複雜的問題時

sometimes the solution is to slice it in the smaller problems.

有時候你要將這個問題分割成幾個細小的問題

That's what we do for most problems -- in math, in physics, even in social policy

這是我們解決大部分問題的方法－

we slice them into smaller, more manager problems.

我們將問題分割成較細少的、較容易處理的問題

But every once in a while,

但是，總有一些時候

as Dwight Eisenhower said,

像(前美國總統)艾森豪曾經講過

the way you solve a problem

你解決問題的方法

is to make it bigger.

就是要將它放大

The way we solve this problem

我們現在處理死刑這個問題

is to make the issue of the death penalty bigger.

正正就是要將死刑的事件變大

We have to say, all right.

我們要說，好了

We have these four chapters

我們有這四個

of a death penalty story,

關於死刑故事章節

but what happens before

但甚麼發生

that story begins?

在這個故事之前呢?

How can we intervene in the life of a murderer

我們可以怎樣在一個人變成殺人犯之前

before he's a murderer?

阻止這件事情發生呢?

What options do we have

我們有甚麼選擇

to nudge that person

去把這個人

off of the path

輕輕推出這條不歸路呢

that is going to lead to a result that everybody

這個問題引領我們到一個結局，每個人－

death penalty supporters and death penalty opponents

死刑支持者也好，反對死刑的人也好－

still think

都認為是

is a bad result:

一個悲哀的結局:

the murder of an innocent human being?

一個無辜的人被殺?

You know, sometimes people say

你知道，有時候人們會說

that something

有些事情

isn't rocket science.

並非“火箭科學”

And by that, what they mean is rocket

他們這樣說，就是指火箭科學的確很複雜

and this problem that we're talking

相對地，我們今日探討的問題就簡單得多

Well that's rocket science;

哎喲... 其實我們今天討論的問題確實是一種火箭科學

that's the mathematical expression

就像推進火箭發射

for the thrust created by a rocket.

所用的數學公式一樣

What we're talking about today

今天我們所討論的問題

is just as complicated.

就是一樣的複雜

What we're talking about today is also

我們今天所討論的問題

rocket science.

就是高深的科學

My client Will

我的當時人威廉

and 80 percent of the people on

跟百分之八十的死囚一樣

had five chapters in their lives

他們的生命中有五個章節

that came before

在死囚故事

the four chapters of the death penalty

的四個章節前發生

I think of these five chapters as points

我視這五個章節為我們的“介入點”

places in their lives when our society

一些我們的社會可以

could've intervened in their lives and

介入他們的生活、把他們輕輕推出這條不歸路的機會

that created a consequence that we all -- death penalty supporters or death

一個我們－死刑支持者或

penalty opponents --

反對死刑的人－

say was a bad result.

都認為是悲哀的結局

Now, during each of these five

現在，我要談談這五個章節:

when his mother was pregnant with him;

第一，當他媽媽懷著他的時候

in his early childhood years;

第二，在他童年時

when he was in elementary school;

第三，在他讀小學的時候

when he was in middle school and then high

第四，在他上初中和高中的時候

and when he was in the juvenile justice

第五，在他接觸少年司法制度的時候－每一個階段裏

there were a wide variety of things that society could have done.

我們的社會都有一系列的事情可以做

In fact, if we just imagine

實際上，我們可以想像

that there are five different modes of