经济学人:严厉的爱 死刑该不该废除(2)

 　　The paper suggests that when capital punishment was an option, juries were often reluctant to convict at all. 文章表明，当罪犯有可能判死罪时，陪审团通常根本不愿意做出定罪裁决。

　　They may have felt it was a little rum to send someone to the gallows¹ for stealing a cow, so they downgraded the charge or acquitted² the defendant³. 他们可能认为因为某人偷了一头牛就把他送上绞刑架有些荒诞，所以他们就降级指控或者宣判被告无罪。

　　The authors find that juries were particularly reluctant to convict women. 作者发现陪审团特别不愿意判决妇女有罪。

　　Once death was off the table, however, jurors could convict with a clearer conscience. 一旦死刑被废除，陪审团定罪就能更加问心无愧。

　　The paper finds that the abolition⁴ of capital punishment increased the chance of conviction for all crimes by around eight percentage points, with especially large effects for violent offences. 文章研究发现，死刑的废除使得所有犯罪的定罪率增加了8个百分点左右，其中暴力犯罪受到影响很大。

　　The temporary halt of penal⁵ transportation during the American war of independence had a somewhat smaller effect on the likelihood to convict,  在美国独立战争期间暂时停止流放死刑犯，这对定罪率影响较小，

　　suggesting that juries considered living in America to be a prospect⁶ slightly less awful than death. 这也表示陪审团认为生活在美国比死亡好不了多少。

　　Past research has found that would-be criminals are more put off by an increased likelihood of conviction than they are by more severe sentences. 过去的调查显示，那些潜在的罪犯相对于重刑判决而言，更容易因为定罪的几率高而不去犯罪。

　　If so, then getting rid of the most brutal⁷ punishments could make criminal-justice systems work better. 如果真是这样子的话，废除最残忍的刑罚手段可能会使刑事司法体系更加有效。

　　If the third of Britons who would like the death penalty reintroduced got their way, the country might inadvertently end up letting more criminals walk free. 如果那三分之一支持恢复死刑的英国人达到了他们的目的，这个国家可能会在不经意间使更多的罪犯逍遥法外。

1 gallows   

n.绞刑架，绞台

参考例句：

• The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
• Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。

2 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

3 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

4 abolition   

n.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They declared for the abolition of slavery.他们声明赞成废除奴隶制度。
• The abolition of the monarchy was part of their price.废除君主制是他们的其中一部分条件。

5 penal   

adj.刑罚的；刑法上的

参考例句：

• I hope you're familiar with penal code.我希望你们熟悉本州法律规则。
• He underwent nineteen years of penal servitude for theft.他因犯了大窃案受过十九年的苦刑。

6 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

7 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。