美国国家公共电台 NPR Thousands Freed From Prison Custody As DOJ Implements Sentencing Reform Law

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

More than 3,000 federal prisoners are headed home today. They've won early release because of criminal justice law called the First Step Act. NPR national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson reports.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE¹: The deputy attorney general says meeting deadlines set by the First Step Act seven months ago took a monumental effort, and Jeffrey Rosen says it's not over yet.

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JEFFREY ROSEN: Using top-of-the-line research, people and technology, the department intends to implement² this law forcefully, fully³ and on time, with the goal of reducing crime, enhancing public safety and strengthening the rule of law.

JOHNSON: Most of the 3,100 inmates⁴ getting out this week committed drug crimes, before racking up good behavior credits that helped pave the way for their release. Toni Bacon works on the issue at the Justice Department.

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TONI BACON: In terms of the range of people who have been released in - the largest number are drug offenders⁵, the second group are weapons and explosives, and the third are sex offenders. But there's a very wide range of people who are being released.

JOHNSON: They've been living in halfway⁶ houses, getting ready to go home. But about 900 of them will now be subject to immigration detention⁷. Hugh Hurwitz is acting⁸ director at the Bureau of Prisons.

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HUGH HURWITZ: I can't tell you where they'll go because that's up to states or Homeland Security.

JOHNSON: Another 250 inmates who are very old or very sick have been moved into home confinement⁹ or compassionate¹⁰ release. Prison officials often stonewalled those requests before the First Step Act made the process a bit easier. Advocates for overhauling¹¹ the justice system welcome those changes, but they say Congress should weigh in to make sure the Justice Department is living up to its promises. Inimai Chettiar is policy director at the Justice Action Network.

INIMAI CHETTIAR: There's a lot of skepticism around whether this Justice Department is going to fully implement the law, and so we definitely believe that Congress needs to step in and ensure that this is happening and to also fully fund the law.

JOHNSON: After protests from advocates, DOJ says it has moved $75 million from other prison programs to help fund the First Step Act this year. Chettiar says that leaves a big question for 2020 and beyond.

CHETTIAR: The only way that these recidivism¹² reduction programs are going to be effective is if they are fully funded.

JOHNSON: Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

6 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

7 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

10 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

11 overhauling   

n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• I had no chance of overhauling him. 我没有赶上他的可能。 来自辞典例句
• Some sites need little alterations but some need total overhauling. 有些网站需要做出细微修改，而有些网站就需要整体改版。 来自互联网

12 recidivism   

n.累犯，再犯

参考例句：

• Many areas and work units have experienced no recidivism at all for as long as ten or more years.不少地区和单位出现了连续几年、十几年没有发生重新犯罪的好典型。
• It needs to supplement the personality factor to confirm the ordinary recidivism.在普通累犯成立的条件中,应增加罪犯的人格因素。