美国国家公共电台 NPR How Trump Went From 'Tough On Crime' To 'Second Chance' For Felons

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Today the Senate considers a bill to reduce federal sentences for some drug offenses¹. It is also meant to prepare inmates² for life after prison. Supporters say this bill would not have made it this far without a surprising supporter - President Trump³. Here's NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.

AYESHA RASCOE, BYLINE⁴: When President Trump talks about crime, it can sound a lot like a throwback to the past...

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: My administration is determined⁵ - totally determined to restore law and order.

Law and order.

One hundred percent...

RASCOE: ...To those decades when the war on drugs and high crime rates led to stiff punishments for drug offenses.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: We need law and order in our country.

RASCOE: And it's not just talk. Trump's first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, directed prosecutors⁶ to seek tougher penalties for some nonviolent drug offenses. So how did Trump end up pushing a bill that would reverse some of those tough-on-crime laws? One factor - his son-in-law.

DAVID SAFAVIAN: This bill would've been dead on arrival without Jared Kushner.

RASCOE: David Safavian works for the American Conservative Union Foundation, which supports this new Senate legislation. His group found an ally in Kushner who's a top White House adviser⁷. Groups like Safavian's and their progressive counterparts argue that unreasonably⁸ long sentences have clogged⁹ up U.S. prisons, costing taxpayer¹⁰ dollars without lowering crime rates. Kushner, whose father served time in federal prison, has led the charge in the White House to make changes to the nation's criminal justice system.

SAFAVIAN: He's been able to make the case to the president as to why this is good for neighborhoods, good for the economy, good for individuals and good for families.

RASCOE: At White House roundtable meetings, advocates like Shon Hopwood told Trump that there were better ways to crack down on crime. Hopwood met with Trump earlier this year.

SHON HOPWOOD: Well, what I told the president was - I said, you know, I committed a violent crime, but I am not a violent criminal and that people can change and the law should recognize that.

RASCOE: Hopwood is now a law professor at Georgetown University, but he spent nearly 11 years in prison for bank robbery. He says he thinks hearing stories like his made Trump look at prisoners differently. The push to persuade Trump seems to have paid off. After supporting a more limited bill in the House, last month Trump came out in favor of the more expansive Senate bill. It would promote prison rehabilitation¹¹ programs and end automatic life sentences under the three-strike penalty for certain felonies.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: We all benefit when those who have served their time can find a job, support their families and stay the hell out of jail, right? That's what we want. Stay out of jail.

RASCOE: Without his endorsement¹², the bill likely wouldn't have come up for a vote. Safavian says unlike other politicians, Trump doesn't have to worry about opponents painting him as weak on crime.

SAFAVIAN: You know, Donald Trump is tough on crime. Donald Trump endorses¹³ this bill. Therefore, this bill is not soft on crime.

RASCOE: Still, some Republican critics argue it will free violent criminals, and some on the left argue it doesn't go far enough. Breon Wells, a political strategist who has worked on these issues, says he's worried that Trump's mixed messages on crime may lead the Justice Department to not fully¹⁴ implement¹⁵ the law.

BREON WELLS: Do we have good faith, long-term committed partners in this so that this first step doesn't become something where everyone pats themselves on the back and then we don't revisit this for another five, 10 or even 20 years?

RASCOE: If the bill does pass, the 180,000 inmates in federal prison will soon learn what Trump's new version of law and order means for them. Ayesha Rascoe, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF SCRIMSHIRE'S "FUSELAGE")

1 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

2 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》

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 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。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

7 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

8 unreasonably   

adv. 不合理地

参考例句：

• He was also petty, unreasonably querulous, and mean. 他还是个气量狭窄，无事生非，平庸刻薄的人。
• Food in that restaurant is unreasonably priced. 那家饭店价格不公道。

9 clogged   

（使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞

参考例句：

• The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. 狭窄的街道上交通堵塞。
• The intake of gasoline was stopped by a clogged fuel line. 汽油的注入由于管道阻塞而停止了。

10 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

11 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

12 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

13 endorses   

v.赞同( endorse的第三人称单数 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• There isn't one country in the Middle East that now endorses the Eisenhower Doctrine. 但至今没有一个中东国家认可它。 来自辞典例句
• Whether any of this truly endorses Dr Patel's hypothesis is moot. 这些视频能否真正证明帕特的假设成立还是个未知数。 来自互联网

14 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。

15 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。