Robin Steinberg: What if we ended the injustice of bail?
Робин Стайнберг: Что, если положить конец несправедливой системе залога?
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.
посетила клиента в тюрьме.
захлопнулась за мной,
had a sticky film on it
был покрыт липкой плёнкой,
was a small window placed too high to see.
было окошко — высоко, не дотянуться.
bolted to the floor
маленький квадратный стол
I understood viscerally --
as a young, public defender
как молодому госзащитнику,
ever forget that feeling.
and every one of my clients' freedom
за свободу каждого из моих клиентов,
to the American psyche
для американской души,
to imprisonment.
без тюремного заключения.
more people per capita
больше людей на душу населения,
is that on any given night in America,
что каждую ночь в Америке
in those concrete jail cells
в этих бетонных тюремных камерах,
and sons and daughters
and one reason only:
the price of their freedom.
заплатить цену своей свободы.
as a form of conditional release.
условного освобождения.
that somebody could afford to pay --
to come back to court;
на слушание в суд,
to be used as punishment.
to hold people in jail cells.
чтобы держать людей за решёткой.
to create a two-tier system of justice:
как система неравного правосудия:
and one for everybody else.
другое — для всех остальных.
in American local jails
что не могут выплатить залог.
in his South Bronx neighborhood
по своему району в Южном Бронксе,
to pick up a quart of milk.
why he was being stopped,
причину задержания,
and the next thing he knew,
your bicycle on the sidewalk
«ехал на велосипеде по тротуару
was sent to "The Boat" --
отправили на «лодку» ["The Boat"] —
that sits on the East River
и рыбным рынком.
that sits out there
она там, а в ней мужчины,
even for a few days.
хотя бы пару дней.
ваш статус иммигранта.
losing custody of your children.
victimization by jail staff
со стороны тюремщиков
пребывания в тюрьме,
including suicides,
включая самоубийства,
if you're held in jail on bail,
а остались в тюрьме,
к тюрьме в 4 раза выше,
to get a jail sentence
will be three times longer.
будет в три раза дольше.
and cash bail has been set,
и вам назначен залог,
to remain stuck in that jail cell
у вас в два раза выше,
dehumanizing and violent experience.
ужасный, бесчеловечный и жестокий опыт.
that it's you stuck in that jail cell,
что вы застряли в тюремной камере
the 500 dollars to get out.
чтобы выйти на свободу.
and offers you a way out.
would do in that situation.
как любой в этой ситуации.
whether you did it or not.
виновны вы на самом деле или нет.
for the rest of your life.
enough money to pay bail
что у них нет денег на залог, —
immoral things we do as a society.
несправедливостей нашего общества.
and counterproductive.
holding people in jail cells
на содержание людей в тюрьмах,
is it doesn't make us any safer.
наша жизнь не становится безопаснее.
that holding somebody in jail
что содержание в тюрьме
to commit a crime when you get out
совершения преступлений в будущем,
have known that for generations.
знают об этом не понаслышке.
to buy their loved ones freedom
чтобы высвободить своих близких,
and jail cells existed.
кабала и тюрьмы.
has grown too enormous,
распространилось повсеместно,
has been the result --
за последние 20 лет
for over half my life,
публичным защитником,
thousands of clients
enough money to pay bail.
were subsumed by questions of money,
уступали место денежным вопросам,
of the entire American legal system.
всей американской правовой системы.
I was wrestling with over a decade ago
я билась лет десять назад,
with my husband, David,
со своим мужем Дейвом,
and venting about the injustice of it all
и размышляли об этой несправедливости,
our clients out of jail?"
Freedom Fund was born.
that told us we were crazy
to lose all of the money.
because they didn't have any stake in it.
ведь им нечего терять.
at the end of a criminal case,
по завершении уголовного дела,
for more and more bail.
использовать их для залога.
residents of New York City,
за бедных жителей Нью-Йорка,
has exploded our ideas
в корне поменяло наше понимание того,
legal system itself is operated.
people come back to court.
не из-за денег.
the Bronx Freedom Fund pays bail,
залог оставляет Bronx Freedom,
return for every court appearance,
на каждое судебное слушание,
that it's money that mattered.
что всё дело в деньгах.
that we don't need cash
что не нужны ни деньги,
of surveillance and supervision.
about when to come back to court.
когда нужно явиться в суд.
in jail on a misdemeanor,
вас держат в тюрьме за проступок,
по более половины дел.
of the Bronx Freedom Fund,
have ever received a jail sentence
были приговорены
locked in that jail cell.
запертый в тюремной камере.
признать виновным,
intervened and paid his bail.
и выплатил залог.
his case from outside.
за исход своего дела.
Freedom Fund was a lifeline,
стал спасательным кругом,
locked in jail cells,
запертым в тюрьмах,
maybe, audacious?
revolving bail-fund model
революционную модель фонда,
of the legal system
системы правосудия
как можно больше людей
as many people as we can
and local community organizations,
и местными общественными организациями
in high-need jurisdictions.
в самых нуждающихся округах.
at the end of a case.
two or three times a year,
можно использовать по 2–3 раза в год,
to pay bail for up to 15 people
можно использовать для освобождения
and the wisdom and the leadership
мудрость и содействие тех,
this injustice firsthand.
by a team of bail disrupters.
будут работать поручители.
advocates from local communities,
защитники из местного населения,
incarcerated themselves,
сами побывали за решёткой,
и поддерживать клиентов,
through the legal system,
resources and support they may need.
ресурсы и помощь.
disrupter in Queens County, New York.
в округе Квинс в Нью-Йорке.
and Louisville, Kentucky.
и Луисвилле, штат Кентукки.
the money bail system
поможет справиться с системой залогов
и привлекать должное внимание
critical, national data
по всей стране,
a better path forward
of oppression in just another form.
не могла бы возродиться в другой форме.
over the next five years,
за ближайшие пять лет,
non-governmental decarcerations
неправительственных мероприятий
from decades in the system:
нужно время,
the civil rights litigators,
the media, the philanthropists,
учёных, СМИ, благотворителей,
of those who are impacted by this system.
кто попал под колёса этой системы.
mass incarceration.
массовому заключению.
in those jail cells,
on bail bondage, right now --
потому что не могут позволить себе залог,
план действий
to dream big and fight hard,
высокие цели и бороться за них,
are a reality in America.
правосудия не восторжествуют.
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