Robin Steinberg: What if we ended the injustice of bail?
로빈 스타인버그(Robin Steinberg): 보석금의 불평등을 끝내면 어떻게 될까요?
Robin Steinberg is the CEO of The Bail Project, a new organization designed to combat mass incarceration in the United States by disrupting the money bail system -- one person at a time. As she says: "I hate injustice and simply can't sit still when I see it." Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
I visited a client in jail.
방문했을 때를 잊을 수 없습니다.
had a sticky film on it
찢어지는 소리가 들리는
was a small window placed too high to see.
볼 수도 없는 작은 창문 하나였습니다.
bolted to the floor
작고 네모난 책상과,
I understood viscerally --
as a young, public defender
ever forget that feeling.
and every one of my clients' freedom
위해 싸우도록 고무시켰습니다.
to the American psyche
to imprisonment.
중독돼있습니다.
수치를 알고 있지요.
more people per capita
사람을 수감합니다.
is that on any given night in America,
미국은 매일 밤
in those concrete jail cells
50만 명에 가까운 사람들이
and sons and daughters
아들, 딸들이
and one reason only:
the price of their freedom.
지불할 수 없다는 이유로요.
as a form of conditional release.
시작되었습니다.
that somebody could afford to pay --
있을 정도로 설정하면
to come back to court;
인센티브를 제공하죠.
to be used as punishment.
to hold people in jail cells.
잡아두기 위한 게 아니었어요.
to create a two-tier system of justice:
의도했던 건 아니었다고요.
and one for everybody else.
나머지 사람들을 위하는 식으로요.
그렇게 만들어 버렸습니다.
in American local jails
75%의 미국인은
없기 때문에 거기 있습니다.
in his South Bronx neighborhood
자전거를 타고 있었어요.
to pick up a quart of milk.
why he was being stopped,
이유를 알려달라고 했죠.
and the next thing he knew,
땅바닥에 있었다는 겁니다.
your bicycle on the sidewalk
체포를 거부함"이란 죄를
was sent to "The Boat" --
"보트"로 가게 되었죠.
that sits on the East River
that sits out there
even for a few days.
무슨 의미를 갖는지를요.
빠트리는 것이기도 합니다.
losing custody of your children.
victimization by jail staff
발생하는 성적 피해는
including suicides,
감옥 내 사망 사건은
if you're held in jail on bail,
감옥에 계속 남아 있다면
to get a jail sentence
자유로운 상태에 있는 사람보다
will be three times longer.
and cash bail has been set,
보석금이 결정되었다면
to remain stuck in that jail cell
dehumanizing and violent experience.
비인간적이고, 폭력적인 경험이지요.
that it's you stuck in that jail cell,
수감된다고 상상해보세요.
the 500 dollars to get out.
500달러가 없습니다.
and offers you a way out.
나갈 수 있는 방법을 알려주죠.
다시 돌아갈 수 있어.
잘자라고 인사할 수 있어."
would do in that situation.
할 만한 행동을 하겠죠.
whether you did it or not.
당신은 유죄를 인정합니다.
범죄 기록이 남죠.
for the rest of your life.
enough money to pay bail
사람들을 수감하는 건
immoral things we do as a society.
불공평하고 부도덕한 일 중 하나입니다.
and counterproductive.
holding people in jail cells
매년 140억 달러의 세금을 냅니다.
is it doesn't make us any safer.
우리가 더 안전해지는 게 아니란 거죠.
that holding somebody in jail
사람들을 감옥에 수감하게 되면
to commit a crime when you get out
수감되었던 사람들이
현저히 높다고 분명히 말하고 있습니다.
have known that for generations.
대대로 그 사실을 알고 있습니다.
to buy their loved ones freedom
사랑하는 이의 자유를 사기 위해
and jail cells existed.
has grown too enormous,
범위는 너무 거대해졌고
has been the result --
for over half my life,
thousands of clients
enough money to pay bail.
were subsumed by questions of money,
돈의 문제로 포괄되어버리는 걸 보았고
of the entire American legal system.
의문을 가지게 되었습니다.
이야기하러 여기 왔습니다.
가능하게 할 수 있을까요?
I was wrestling with over a decade ago
역시 국선변호사였던
with my husband, David,
함께 식탁에 앉아서
and venting about the injustice of it all
불평등에 관해 토로하고 있었는데
our clients out of jail?"
보석금을 내주는 거야."
Freedom Fund was born.
아이디어가 태어났죠.
that told us we were crazy
to lose all of the money.
잃을 거라고 했죠.
because they didn't have any stake in it.
돌아오지 않을 거라고요.
at the end of a criminal case,
보석금을 돌려준다는 걸 알고 있었고
for more and more bail.
보석을 위해 사용할 수 있겠죠.
residents of New York City,
보석금을 내주었고
has exploded our ideas
왜 사람들이 법정으로 돌아오고
legal system itself is operated.
people come back to court.
만드는 것이 아니었습니다.
the Bronx Freedom Fund pays bail,
return for every court appearance,
that it's money that mattered.
돌아왔다는 점에서 알 수 있죠.
that we don't need cash
발찌를 채우거나
of surveillance and supervision.
about when to come back to court.
in jail on a misdemeanor,
경범죄로 구금되었을 때
인정한다는 것입니다.
of the Bronx Freedom Fund,
have ever received a jail sentence
징역형을 받은 클라이언트는
locked in that jail cell.
intervened and paid his bail.
그의 보석금을 내주었습니다.
his case from outside.
Freedom Fund was a lifeline,
생명줄이었죠.
locked in jail cells,
많은 미국인들이
maybe, audacious?
revolving bail-fund model
of the legal system
공격하고 싶습니다.
as many people as we can
가능한 한 빨리
and local community organizations,
in high-need jurisdictions.
40개 부지를 마련할 겁니다.
시키는 게 목표고요.
at the end of a case.
two or three times a year,
2~3회 활용될 수 있고
to pay bail for up to 15 people
될 수 있습니다.
and the wisdom and the leadership
직접 부당함을 경험했던 사람들의
this injustice firsthand.
by a team of bail disrupters.
팀으로 구성될 겁니다.
advocates from local communities,
지역사회 출산의 옹호자들이죠.
incarcerated themselves,
직접 수감된 적이 있고
지원해줄 겁니다.
through the legal system,
다뤄지는 동안에요.
resources and support they may need.
모두 제공할 것이고요.
disrupter in Queens County, New York.
직원이 되기 위한 훈련과정에 있습니다.
and Louisville, Kentucky.
켄터키 주의 루이스빌입니다.
the money bail system
현찰 보석 시스템을 전례없는 규모로
이야기를 듣고, 수집하고
critical, national data
a better path forward
of oppression in just another form.
재생산되지 않도록 할 겁니다.
over the next five years,
보석 석방시킴으로써
non-governmental decarcerations
반투옥 비정부 조직 중
from decades in the system:
시간이 걸린다는 겁니다.
the civil rights litigators,
the media, the philanthropists,
대중매체, 자선가
of those who are impacted by this system.
목소리와 노력도 필요하죠.
mass incarceration.
대규모 수감을 끝낼 수 있습니다.
in those jail cells,
on bail bondage, right now --
감옥에 잡혀있는 사람들은
개입하는 곳입니다.
실행 계획이 있고,
네트워크가 확장되고 있죠.
to dream big and fight hard,
충분히 대단한 사람들요.
한 번에 한 명씩 보석시킬 겁니다.
are a reality in America.
미국의 현실이 될 때까지요.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robin Steinberg - Public defender, activistRobin Steinberg is the CEO of The Bail Project, a new organization designed to combat mass incarceration in the United States by disrupting the money bail system -- one person at a time. As she says: "I hate injustice and simply can't sit still when I see it."
Why you should listen
Robin Steinberg is the CEO of The Bail Project and a senior fellow at the UCLA Law Criminal Justice Program. As she writes: "When I started my career, all I wanted was to be a great public defender for my clients. I vowed to fight for their rights, dignity and humanity in a system that seemed intent on crushing them, their families and their communities. It was hard work, but I woke up everyday inspired and with a sense of purpose -- even when the unfairness of the system made me cry. I was doing my part in the larger struggle for social justice -- one client at a time. But the need to do more, to rethink the very nature of public defense and challenge the larger systemic issues that fueled the cycle of criminalization and poverty led me to start The Bronx Defenders in 1997. For 20 years, I worked to create a new vision of public defense, extending legal representation and advocacy beyond criminal court with the goal of breaking that cycle. That process led to the founding of several new initiatives, including Still She Rises, a public defender office dedicated exclusively to the representation of women in the criminal justice system, and The Bronx Freedom Fund, a revolving bail fund that used philanthropic dollars to pay bail for clients who couldn’t buy their freedom.
"As it turns out, what I love most is getting people out of jail so they can be home with their families and have a fighting chance in court. My new organization, The Bail Project, will take the lessons we learned in the Bronx and go to dozens of high-need jurisdictions with the goal of paying bail for 160,000 people over the next five years, disrupting the bail system, reducing the human suffering it causes and continuing the fight to decarcerate America."
Robin Steinberg | Speaker | TED.com