The heavy, metal door slammed behind me,

我永遠忘不了我第一次 到監獄見一位客戶的經驗。

and I heard the key turn in the lock.

沉重的金屬門在我背後砰一聲關上，

The cement floor underneath me had a sticky film on it

我聽見鑰匙在鎖中轉動的聲音。

that made a ripping sound,

我腳下的水泥地板上面有一層黏膜，

like tape being pulled off a box,

產生一種撕扯的聲音，

every time I moved my foot.

每當我動一下腳就會發出

The only connection to the outside world was a small window placed too high to see.

一種像是把膠帶 從盒子上撕下來的聲音。

There was a small, square table bolted to the floor

和外面世界唯一的連結 只有高高在上的一扇小窗。

and two metal chairs,

那裡有一個方形小桌子， 被用螺栓固定在地板上，

one on either side.

還有兩張金屬椅子，

That was the first time I understood viscerally --

一邊一張。

just for a fleeting moment --

那是我第一次從內心了解到——

what incarceration might feel like.

僅僅在一瞬間——

And I promised myself all those years ago as a young, public defender

被監禁可能會有什麼感覺。

that I would never, ever forget that feeling.

那麼多年前，身為一位 年輕的公設辯護律師，

And I never have.

我向自己許諾， 永遠不要忘記那種感覺。

It inspired me to fight for each and every one of my clients' freedom

我從來沒忘記。

as if it was my own.

它鼓舞了我，讓我為 每一位客戶的自由而戰，

Freedom.

如同是為自己的自由而戰。

A concept so fundamental to the American psyche

自由。

that it is enshrined in our constitution.

對美國人來說，這個概念非常基本，

And yet, America is addicted to imprisonment.

它是我們憲法的核心。

From slavery through mass incarceration,

然而，美國卻對監禁上了癮。

it always has been.

從奴隸制度到大量監禁，

Look, we all know the shocking numbers.

一直都是如此。

The United States incarcerates more people per capita

我們都知道這些數字有多驚人。

than almost any nation on the planet.

在美國被監禁的人均

But what you may not know is that on any given night in America,

幾乎比地球上任何國家都高。

almost half a million people go to sleep in those concrete jail cells

但各位可能不知道， 在美國的任何一個夜晚，

who have not been convicted of anything.

有將近 50 萬人在還未被定罪前，

These mothers and fathers and sons and daughters

被關在那種水泥監獄的牢房裡過夜。

are there for one reason and one reason only:

這些母親們、父親們、 兒子們、女兒們

they cannot afford to pay the price of their freedom.

身在牢中的原因只有一個，

And that price is called bail.

他們付不起自由的價碼。

Now, bail was actually created as a form of conditional release.

那個價碼，就稱為「保釋金」。

The theory was simple:

保釋金最初是被設計為 有條件釋放的一種形式。

set bail at an amount that somebody could afford to pay --

理論很簡單：

they would pay it --

把保釋金設定在某人 負擔得起的價格，

it would give them an incentive to come back to court;

他們就會付這筆錢，

it would give them some skin in the game.

這樣做會給他們 一個回到法庭的動機；

Bail was never intended to be used as punishment.

讓他們為此自掏腰包。

Bail was never intended to hold people in jail cells.

保釋金的本意從來 就不是要當作懲罰。

And bail was never, ever intended to create a two-tier system of justice:

保釋金的本意從來就不是 要把人拘留在監獄牢房中。

one for the rich and one for everybody else.

保釋金的本意從來就不是 要創造雙重的司法體制：

But that is precisely what it has done.

一重是給富人的， 另一重則是給其他人的。

75 percent of people in American local jails

但它的結果卻是如此。

are there because they cannot pay bail.

在美國的地方監獄中， 有 75％ 的人

People like Ramel.

因為付不出保釋金被監禁。

On a chilly October afternoon,

就像拉梅爾。

Ramel was riding his bicycle in his South Bronx neighborhood

在一個冷颼颼的十月下午，

on his way to a market to pick up a quart of milk.

拉梅爾在他的南布朗克斯 街坊騎著他的腳踏車，

He was stopped by the police.

前往市場去買一夸脫的牛奶。

And when he demanded to know why he was being stopped,

他被警察攔下。

an argument ensued, and the next thing he knew,

當他要求知道為什麼他被攔下時，

he was on the ground in handcuffs,

與警察發生了爭執， 他所知道的下一件事，

being charged with "riding your bicycle on the sidewalk

就是他被壓在地上戴上手銬，

and resisting arrest."

被指控「在人行道上騎腳踏車

He was taken to court,

以及拒捕。」

where a judge set 500 dollars bail.

他被送上法庭，

But Ramel -- he didn't have 500 dollars.

法官把保釋金設為美金 500 元。

So this 32-year-old father was sent to "The Boat" --

但拉梅爾沒有 500 元。

a floating jail barge that sits on the East River

這位 32 歲的父親被送上「船」——

between a sewage plant and a fish market.

一台大型監獄平底船，浮在東河上，

That's right, you heard me.

在一個汙水處理場和 一個漁貨市場之間。

In New York City, in 2018,

你們沒聽錯。

we have a floating prison barge that sits out there

2018 年，在紐約市，

and houses primarily black and brown men

我們在那裡有一座漂浮監獄平底船，

who cannot pay their bail.

裡面關的主要是黑色和棕色皮膚，

Let's talk for a moment

且付不出保釋金的人。

about what it means to be in jail even for a few days.

咱們來談一下

Well, it can mean losing your job,

坐牢是什麼滋味，即使只坐幾天牢。

losing your home,

坐牢可能意味著失去你的工作，

jeopardizing your immigration status.

失去你的房子，

It may even mean losing custody of your children.

危及你的移民身份。

A third of sexual victimization by jail staff

甚至可能意味著失去孩子的監護權。

happens in the first three days in jail,

有 1/3 被監獄人員性侵的人，

and almost half of all jail deaths, including suicides,

是在入獄的前 3 天內發生。

happen in that first week.

監獄中的死亡，包括自殺，

What's more, if you're held in jail on bail,

有將近一半在第一週內發生。

you're four times more likely to get a jail sentence

不只如此，如果你因為 付不起保釋金而坐牢，

than if you had been free,

你被判刑入獄的可能性

and that jail sentence will be three times longer.

是保釋在外的人的 4 倍，

And if you are black or Latino and cash bail has been set,

且刑期會是保釋在外者的３倍長。

you are two times more likely to remain stuck in that jail cell

如果你是黑人或拉丁裔， 且已經被裁定了現金交保的金額，

than if you were white.

你被拘留在監獄牢房的可能性，

Jail in America is a terrifying, dehumanizing and violent experience.

比白人高２倍。

Now imagine for just one moment that it's you stuck in that jail cell,

在美國坐牢是非常駭人、 無人性，且暴力的經驗。

and you don't have the 500 dollars to get out.

稍微試想一下，如果被困在 監獄牢房中的人是你，

And someone comes along and offers you a way out.

你沒有 ＄500 可以脫身。

"Just plead guilty," they say.

有人來找你，提供你一條出路。

"You can go home back to your job.

他們說：「你只要認罪。

Just plead guilty.

你就可以回家，回去工作。

You can kiss your kids goodnight tonight."

只要認罪就好了。

So you do what anybody would do in that situation.

你晚上就可以親吻 你的孩子道晚安。」

You plead guilty whether you did it or not.

所以，你會做每個人 在那種情況下會做的事，

But now you have a criminal record

不管是否犯下那個罪行，你認罪了。

that's going to follow you for the rest of your life.

但，現在你就有了犯罪記錄，

Jailing people because they don't have enough money to pay bail

它會在你餘生一直跟隨著你。

is one of the most unfair, immoral things we do as a society.

把沒錢支付保釋金的人打入大牢，

But it is also expensive and counterproductive.

是我們這個社會所做出 最不公平、不道德的事情之一。

American taxpayers --

這麼做不僅昂貴還有反效果。

they spend 14 billion dollars annually holding people in jail cells

美國納稅人

who haven't been convicted of anything.

每年要花 1400 億美元，

That's 40 million dollars a day.

把還沒有被定罪的人關在牢裡。

What's perhaps more confounding is it doesn't make us any safer.

平均一天 4000 萬美元。

Research is clear that holding somebody in jail

更莫名其妙的是， 這麼做並沒有讓我們更安全。

makes you significantly more likely to commit a crime when you get out

研究清楚指出， 當一個人被關在牢裡，

than if you had been free all along.

他在出獄後會犯罪的機率

Freedom makes all the difference.

顯著地比一直是自由身的人更高。

Low-income communities

自由能夠造成很大的不同。

and communities of color have known that for generations.

低收入社區和有色人種社區

Together, they have pooled their resources to buy their loved ones freedom

數世代以來都很清楚這一點。

for as long as bondage and jail cells existed.

他們一起想辦法合資 買回他們所愛的人的自由，

But the reach of the criminal legal system has grown too enormous,

從有奴隸和監獄存在以來就一直如此。

and the numbers have just too large.

但刑事司法體制能觸及的範圍 已經成長到太龐大，

99 percent of jail growth in America has been the result --

數字已經太大了。

over the last 20 years --

美國監獄的成長當中， 有 99％ 的成因——

of pre-trial incarceration.

在過去 20 年間——

I have been a public defender for over half my life,

都是審判前的監禁。

and I have stood by and watched thousands of clients

我半生的時間擔任公設辯護律師，

as they were dragged into those jail cells

我曾站在數千名客戶的身邊，

because they didn't have enough money to pay bail.

看著他們被拖入監獄牢房，

I have watched as questions of justice were subsumed by questions of money,

只因為他們沒錢支付保釋金。

calling into question the legitimacy of the entire American legal system.

我看著正義的問題變成了錢的問題，

I am here to say something simple --

讓人懷疑美國司法體制的正當性。

something obvious,

我來這裡要談的事情很簡單、

but something urgent.

很明顯，

Freedom makes all the difference,

卻也很急迫。

and freedom should be free.

自由能造成很大的不同，

(Applause)

自由應該是免費的。

But how are we going to make that happen?

（掌聲）

Well, that's the question I was wrestling with over a decade ago

但我們要如何實現它？

when I was sitting at a kitchen table with my husband, David,

那是我十多年以前 就努力想要解決的問題，

who is also a public defender.

當時我和我老公大衛坐在餐桌前，

We were eating our Chinese takeout and venting about the injustice of it all

他也是公設辯護律師。

when David looked up and said,

我們一邊吃外帶的中國菜， 一邊發洩抱怨這些不公正，

"Why don't we just start a bail fund,

那時，大衛抬起頭，說：

and just start bailing our clients out of jail?"

「我們為何不設立保釋金基金，

And in that unexpected moment,

把我們的客戶從監獄中保釋出來？」

the idea for the Bronx Freedom Fund was born.

在那未預期的時刻，

Look, we didn't know what to expect.

布朗克斯自由基金的 點子就這麼誕生了。

There were plenty of people that told us we were crazy

我們當時不知道該期待什麼。

and we were going to lose all of the money.

有很多人告訴我們說我們瘋了，

People wouldn't come back because they didn't have any stake in it.

說我們會失去所有的錢。

But what if clients did come back?

大家不會回來，因為他們 沒有利害關係在其中。

We knew that bail money comes back at the end of a criminal case,

但如果客戶確實回來了呢？

so it could come back into the fund,

我們知道保釋金的錢會在 刑事案件終了時還回來，

and we could use it over and over again for more and more bail.

所以它會回到基金中，

That was our big bet,

我們可以不斷重覆使用它 來做更多的保釋。

and that bet paid off.

那是我們的大賭注，

Over the past 10 years,

而這賭注得到了回報。

we have been paying bails for low-income residents of New York City,

在過去 10 年，

and what we have learned has exploded our ideas

我們一直在為低收入的 紐約市居民支付保釋金，

of why people come back to court

我們所學到的，打破了我們對於

and how the criminal legal system itself is operated.

為什麼大家會返回到法庭，

Turns out money isn't what makes people come back to court.

以及刑事司法體制本身 如何運作的想法。

We know this because when the Bronx Freedom Fund pays bail,

我們發現，錢並不是 讓大家回到法庭的原因。

96 percent of clients return for every court appearance,

我們知道這點，是因為當保釋金 是由布隆克斯自由基金支付時，

laying waste to the myth that it's money that mattered.

96 ％的客戶每次出庭時都會到場，

It's powerful evidence that we don't need cash

打破了拿回保釋金是主要動機的謎思。

or ankle bracelets

這是個強力證據， 證明我們不需要現金，

or unnecessary systems of surveillance and supervision.

或電子腳鐐，

We simply need court reminders --

或不必要的監控和監視系統。

simple court reminders about when to come back to court.

我們只需要法庭提醒——

Next, we learned that if you're held in jail on a misdemeanor,

簡單的法庭提醒， 告訴我們何時要回去出庭。

90 percent of people will plead guilty.

接著，我們學到的是， 如果你是因為輕罪入獄，

But when the fund pays bail,

90％ 的人會選擇認罪。

over half the cases are dismissed.

但如果由基金支付保釋金，

And in the entire history of the Bronx Freedom Fund,

一半以上的案件被駁回。

fewer than two percent of our clients have ever received a jail sentence

在布朗克斯自由基金的整個歷史上，

of any kind.

我們的客戶中只有不到 ２％

(Applause)

最後被判任何一類的徒刑．

Ramel, a week later --

（掌聲）

he was still on the boat, locked in that jail cell.

一週後，拉梅爾還在船上，

He was on the cusp of losing everything,

還被關在牢房裡。

and he was about to plead guilty,

他處於即將失去一切的關口，

and the Bronx Freedom Fund intervened and paid his bail.

他已經準備認罪，

Now, reunited with his daughter,

而布朗克斯自由基金介入了， 支付了他的保釋金。

he was able to fight his case from outside.

現在，他和女兒團聚了，

Look, it took some time --

他可以從外面來打這場官司。

two years, to be exact --

花了些時間，

but at the end of that,

明確來說是２年，

his case was dismissed in its entirety.

但最後，

For Ramel --

他的案件完全被駁回。

(Applause)

對拉梅爾而言——

For Ramel, the Bronx Freedom Fund was a lifeline,

（掌聲）

but for countless other Americans locked in jail cells,

對拉梅爾而言， 布朗克斯自由基金是他的生命線，

there is no freedom fund coming.

但對其他無數被關在 監獄牢房中的美國人而言，

It's time to do something about that.

沒有自由基金來幫他們。

It's time to do something big.

為此，該是做點什麼的時候了。

It's time to do something bold.

該是做點什麼大事的時候了。

It's time to do something, maybe, audacious?

該是無畏地做點什麼的時候了。

(Laughter)

也許，該是大膽妄為的時候了？

We want to take our proven, revolving bail-fund model

（笑聲）

that we built in the Bronx

我們想要用我們在布朗克斯區 建立，且已經證實有用的

and spread it across America,

循環式保釋金模型，

attacking the front end of the legal system

把它傳播到整個美國，

before incarceration begins.

去攻擊司法體制的前端，

(Applause)

在監禁之前就先攻擊。

(Cheers)

（掌聲）

(Applause)

（歡呼）

Here's the plan.

（掌聲）

(Applause)

計畫如下。

We're going to bail out as many people as we can

（掌聲）

as quickly as we can.

我們要盡可能把更多人保釋出來，

Over the next five years,

且盡快做到。

partnering with public defenders and local community organizations,

在接下來５年，

we're going to set up 40 sites in high-need jurisdictions.

與公設辯護律師 及地方社區組織合作，

The goal is to bail out 160,000 people.

我們將會在有高度需求的 轄區內設立 40 個點。

Our strategy leverages the fact

目標是要保釋 16 萬人。

that bail money comes back at the end of a case.

為了使我們的策略要發揮功效，

Data from the Bronx

保釋金需要在案件結束後 能夠拿回來。

shows that a dollar can be used two or three times a year,

來自布朗克斯的資料

creating a massive force multiplier.

顯示在一年內， 每一元能夠被使用 2～3 次，

So a dollar donated today can be used to pay bail for up to 15 people

創造出很巨大的倍數力量。

over the next five years.

所以今天捐獻的 1 元， 在接下來 5 年，可以被用來支付

Our strategy also relies on the experience and the wisdom and the leadership

高達 15 個人的保釋金。

of those who have experienced this injustice firsthand.

我們的策略也要仰賴那些 第一手經驗到不公平的人

(Applause)

所提供的經驗、智慧與領導能力。

Each bail project site will be staffed by a team of bail disrupters.

（掌聲）

These are passionate, dedicated advocates from local communities,

每個保釋專案據點都會 有一個保釋破壞者團隊。

many of whom were formerly incarcerated themselves,

他們都是來自當地社區， 有熱忱、肯投入的擁護者，

who will pay bails and support clients

當中有許多人自己曾被監禁過，

while their cases are going through the legal system,

他們會支付保釋金並在客戶的案件

providing them with whatever resources and support they may need.

經過司法體制的過程中支持他們，

Our first two sites are up and running.

提供任何他們需要的資源及支助。

One in Tulsa, Oklahoma,

我們的前兩個據點已經上路了。

and one in St. Louis, Missouri.

一個在奧克拉荷馬州的土爾沙市，

And Ramel?

另一個在密蘇里州的聖路易市。

He's training right now to be a bail disrupter in Queens County, New York.

而拉梅爾呢？

(Applause)

他正在受訓，為了要成為 紐約皇后區的保釋破壞者。

Our next three sites are ready to launch

（掌聲）

in Dallas, Detroit and Louisville, Kentucky.

我們接下來的三個 據點也準備營運了，

The Bail Project will attack the money bail system

在達拉斯、底特律， 以及肯塔基州的路易維爾。

on an unprecedented scale.