美国国家公共电台 NPR Baltimore State's Attorney Will No Longer Prosecute Marijuana Possession Cases

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

You may remember Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby from her very public role in the indictment¹ of six police officers involved in the death of 25-year-old Baltimore native Freddie Gray.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARILYN MOSBY: The findings of our comprehensive, thorough and independent investigation², coupled with the medical examiner's determination that Mr. Gray's death was a homicide has led us to believe that we have probable cause to file criminal charges.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Shouting) Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Mosby's office was ultimately unable to convict any of the police officers. But now in her second term, she continues to push her message of reform - this time by ending the prosecution³ of any marijuana possession cases.

MOSBY: My policy is based on the fact that we will no longer go after marijuana possession cases, regardless of weight or criminal history. So if you are arrested for having and being in possession of marijuana, you will then be released without charges.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What has informed your thinking on this? Why have you decided⁴ to move forward?

MOSBY: I think it has to do with the fact that public safety is always my no. 1 sort of priority. And when we look at sort of the disparate enforcement of marijuana laws, it has been disproportionately impacting poor black and brown communities. 2016 - 94 percent of the civil citations⁵ were issued to black people. In 2017, 95 percent of the citations that were issued were to black people. And the most staggering sort of statistic⁶ is that 42 percent of those civil citations were issued in the western district. The western district in Baltimore is 95 percent black and disproportionately impoverished⁷. So what that tells me is that rather than focusing on Tommy (ph), what the police department have been doing is focusing on Tyrone (ph) in West Baltimore.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Your Interim⁸ Police Commissioner⁹ Gary Tuggle disagrees with this. He says police will continue to make marijuana arrests, quote, "unless and until the state legislature changes the law regarding marijuana possession." Doesn't this make your plan - what has been said is - political theater?

MOSBY: Not at all - I mean, because at the end of the day, he's well within his right as the police commissioner to want to utilize¹⁰ his manpower to - if he wants - to focus on marijuana possession. I'm sure that mother who lost her son - I'm sure she would much rather us spend our resources on actually finding the killer¹¹ and not on marijuana possession. And what I'm doing is I'm utilizing¹² my discretion¹³. They can very well arrest people for possession of marijuana. But I'm going to release them without charges. So they will not have to go into court, go through witness preparation or trial preparation and picking a jury and going to trial. I think it's very compelling that, you know, when we look at the violence in our city, where do we want our resources to go?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You are using the word prosecutor¹⁴ discretion. And some who oppose this say that this is overreach of that discretion. Cops say, you know, the laws need to change. That's what lawmakers are tasked with. Are you just supposed to ignore laws that you don't like?

MOSBY: So at one point, there were laws that existed in this country, like Jim Crow. And people were in a position to actually conform or to not conform with those laws. And so I, as the State's Attorney - the people elected me to use my discretion and to do the right thing. And in this case, I will never ever be complicit in the discriminatory enforcement and application of laws against poor black and brown people.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: This is your second term. In your first term, you clashed repeatedly with the Baltimore police. Most people will remember you prosecuted¹⁵ the Freddie Gray case. The six officers involved were all cleared, and that case fell apart. Do you believe you have any capital to spend with the police on this?

MOSBY: Let me just say we had an innocent 25-year-old black man by the name of Freddie Carlos Gray Jr., who made eye contact with the police, who was unconstitutionally arrested, placed into a metal wagon¹⁶ headfirst, feet shackled¹⁷ and handcuffed. And his pleas for medical attention were subsequently ignored. I followed the facts with the law. And I charged those responsible. I wouldn't do anything differently.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Do you have any regrets about the way the trial went?

MOSBY: Not at all - you had accountability across the board, which you weren't having across this country. The accountability led to exposure. A week after I charged those officers, the Department of Justice came in, exposed the discriminatory policing practices of the eighth largest police department in the country. And because of that exposure, we now have reform. And because of that reform, we have a spotlight¹⁸ on the entrenched¹⁹ police corruption²⁰. You know, I went into this to reform the criminal justice system. I can say that we successfully did that in 18 months. And although those individual officers weren't held individually and criminally responsible, every single police officer is being held accountable for the actions of a few.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: When you look at all the challenges, what are the things that keep you up?

MOSBY: So I think of the homicides, you know, the level of distrust among law enforcement in our communities - that's something that we're attempting to break down each and every day. That's something that my office takes very serious, hoping that we can really get the very small number of individuals that define the negative perception of our city off of our streets. You know, I live in the heart of West Baltimore with my two little girls and my husband. I don't have to turn on the news and open up the newspaper to see the violence plaguing my community. All I have to do is open up the door. I have a vested interest.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That was Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby. Thank you so much.

MOSBY: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE REDNECK MANIFESTO'S "UNO DOS CAPOS")

1 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 citations   

n.引用( citation的名词复数 )；引证；引文；表扬

参考例句：

• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Some dictionary writers use citations to show what words mean. 有些辞典的编纂者用引文作例证以解释词义。 来自辞典例句

6 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。

7 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

9 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

10 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。

11 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

12 utilizing   

v.利用，使用( utilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Utilizing an assembler to produce a machine-language program. 用汇编程序产生机器语言的过程。 来自辞典例句
• The study and use of devices utilizing properties of materials near absolute zero in temperature. 对材料在接近绝对零度时的特性进行研究和利用的学科。 来自辞典例句

13 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

14 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

15 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

16 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

17 shackled   

给（某人）带上手铐或脚镣( shackle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The hostage had been shackled to a radiator. 当时人质被铐在暖气片上。
• He was shackled and in darkness of torment. 他被困在黑暗中备受煎熬。

18 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

19 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

20 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。