PBS高端访谈:无罪赔偿:我们到底亏欠被误判者什么?

 　　HARI SREENIVASAN: On any given afternoon in Braddock Pennsylvania on the outskirts¹ of Pittsburgh you'll find Drew Whitley in Stambolis Meat Shop helping² to clean up. It's about all he can do now. He takes valium for an anxiety that is very real for him.

　　What's your life been like?

　　DREW WHITLEY: Some days I wake up with nightmares from the night before. You know I st ill have nightmares that I'm locked up. If they locked you up for getting life without parole for somethin' you– for something they know you didn't do, ain't no tellin' what they might do, far as I'm concerned.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: So you are still living in fear of the justice system?

　　DREW WHITLEY: Oh, yes. I think I'll be that way for the rest of my life.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Whitley's fear and anxiety are based on fact. In 1989, Whitley, who had two previous convictions for theft and receiving stolen property, was convicted in the high profile murder of Noreen Malloy, a 22-year-old McDonald's manager in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, another town near Pittsburgh. Although he always maintained his innocence³.

　　DREW WHITLEY: I'm hoping the judge will grant the DNA⁴ test so the whole city of Pittsburgh can see that they got another innocent man.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: He served 18 years in prison before DNA testing proved that hairs found in the killer's ski mask did not belong to him. In 2006, he was set free.

　　Eight years later, Drew Whitley's exonerated⁵ life is anything but easy. He gets a disability check for $700 a month. Just last year at age 58 he moved out of his mother's home into a tiny two room apartment which costs him nearly half his check.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Did people assume that as soon as you were exonerated that you would be paid money?

　　DREW WHITLEY: Oh, yes. I did too. Me too. Yes, and it should be like that in every state.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: But for all of his time spent wrongfully convicted in prison, all he left with was $100 that he earned working in the prison laundry. He didn't get another penny from the state.

　　While 30 states do offer compensation to the wrongfully convicted, Pennsylvania along with 19 others offers nothing.

　　Exoneree Compensation 4 the web

　　But even where there is compensation available, it is far from equal.

　　For example, Texas pays all exonerees $80,000 for each year they were wrongfully imprisoned⁶, and the state is one of the few that also offers some medical care, life skills, and vocational training once they get out.

　　In New Hampshire, however, the maximum amount an exoneree is entitled to is $20,000, no matter how long the innocent person spent in prison.

　　The federal government has its own standard, offering $50,000 for each year of wrongful incarceration⁷.

　　But while there have been efforts since at least 2009 in the Pennsylvania legislature to introduce a compensation statute⁸, it's gone nowhere.

　　Those who oppose a proposed compensation statute in Pennsylvania say there is “lack of regard for innocent victims.” and that they have been shown “no evidence of the need for such a law.”

　　BILL MOUSHEY: If anybody had any kind of morals in the government, when something like that happened, they should reach out and fix it. And that's not what happens. They fight. They don't fix.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Bill Moushey is a journalism⁹ professor at Point Park University in Pittsburgh and a Pulitzer Prize nominated reporter. For years he and his students have investigated cases of the wrongfully convicted in Pennsylvania. His reporting in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette helped get Drew Whitley exonerated, and he still gets upset by cases like Whitley's.

　　BILL MOUSHEY: They used to have hopeless looks in their eyes when I'd look at ‘em across the table in a prison. But now they have helpless looks. And I think the helpless is a lot worse.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Why?

　　BILL MOUSHEY: Because they worked their whole lives in prison to get out of prison because they didn't do whatever it was they were charged with. And then they get out and nothing is the way they appear– it should have been. They are just thrown on the scrapheap of life like they were the day they walked into prison. And the only difference is, is that they're only prisoners of their own homes now and not of the state.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: What kind of support services exist for them after they're out?

　　BILL MOUSHEY: None.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: In fact, Moushey says that when they are released those who have been convicted are in many ways better off than those who have been convicted but are later cleared.

　　BILL MOUSHEY: If you get paroled in Pennsylvania or any state, you're put under a very restrictive series of covenants¹⁰ where, you know, they blood test you for drugs, they make you go get a job, they lead you to job search agencies, they show you how to build a resume, they show you a variety of other things that are supposed to help you meld back into society. When you get exonerated, they open the door and say, “See ya later.”

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: There is another option to try to get compensated¹¹: suing. That's what Jeffrey Deskovic did. Like Drew Whitley, Deskovic was also wrongfully convicted of murder, and even had an additional charge for rape¹² in New York state, and served almost as much time in prison before he was also exonerated in 2006 by DNA.

　　But he sued and was awarded more than $ 13 million dollars by the state of New York and the other municipalities involved in his conviction. And just last month, he won another multimillion dollar judgement.

　　Now, Deskovic is working in his own way to make sure people don't have to go through what he did. He set up a foundation with his settlement money to help investigate other possible wrongful convictions across the country as well as offer financial and social support to other exonerees — sometimes with something as simple as a regular karaoke night with other guys who are wrongfully convicted.

　　JEFFREY DESKOVIC: It's cathartic¹³ for me. And I feel like I'm making a difference. And I'm tryin' to make my suffering count for something.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Even so, Deskovic says suing was an arduous¹⁴ process. After 16 years in prison, he spent another decade trying to make it right.

　　JEFFREY DESKOVIC: It took less than a year for me to get to a trial and to be wrongfully convicted on the criminal side. And in terms of getting a settlement, it took five years. And then to even get a civil rights trial, eight years. And then no social services in the meantime.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Drew Whitley sued in Federal Court alleging¹⁵ that his civil rights were violated. But the bar for proving misconduct is high. Even though a federal judge agreed that police were negligent¹⁶, she ruled against his lawsuit¹⁷ saying, “A reasonable officer in 1989 would not have fair warning that conducting a reckless investigation¹⁸ was unconstitutional.”

　　So, even though there are admissions of mistakes and of shoddy police work, Drew Whitley is unlikely to get paid by Pennsylvania.

　　BILL MOUSHEY: Well, not unlikely. He's not gonna get paid. He sued. The judge threw the case out. And there's really no recourse, unless we had a compensation package. And we don't.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: If all this strikes you as arbitrary that one wrongfully convicted person is paid while another is not, it's because our criminal justice system is largely decided¹⁹ by each individual state.

　　BERNARD HARCOURT: We're dealing²⁰ with, you know, 50 different states plus the federal government, right. And they take different views about these matters.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Bernard Harcourt is a law professor at Columbia University who studies punishment in the criminal justice system. He says that while compensation packages may be the more immediate²¹ and certain route for helping exonerees, multimillion dollar lawsuits²² could have a larger impact.

　　BERNARD HARCOURT: One of my fears really is that if you have a too straightforward²³ system where anyone who is wrongfully convicted gets 50,000 dollars a year, we stop paying attention. You lose the impetus²⁴ to really try to make sure that no one actually goes through this.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Having been through it himself, Deskovic says that preventing wrongful convictions is even more important than compensating²⁵ exonerees after the fact.

　　JEFFREY DESKOVIC: It could never give me my years back. I would be willing to not only give the money back. I'd be willing to go into debt for that amount of money, maybe even double it, to have had my years back, to have had a normal– had– had a normal– life.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: A normal life is all Drew Whitley was hoping for when he was exonerated.

　　What were your expectations for your life when you got out?

　　DREW WHITLEY: A good place to stay, food to eat and transportation. That's all I really want outta life. Like everybody else. I don't wanna– I don't wanna be filthy²⁶ rich or a millionaire, or whatever. I just want a place to stay. Roof over my head and transportation.

1 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

4 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

5 exonerated   

v.使免罪，免除( exonerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police report exonerated Lewis from all charges of corruption. 警方的报告免除了对刘易斯贪污的所有指控。
• An investigation exonerated the school from any blame. 一项调查证明该学校没有任何过失。 来自辞典例句

6 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

7 incarceration   

n.监禁，禁闭；钳闭

参考例句：

• He hadn't changed much in his nearly three years of incarceration. 在将近三年的监狱生活中，他变化不大。 来自辞典例句
• Please, please set it free before it bursts from its long incarceration! 请你，请你将这颗心释放出来吧！否则它会因长期的禁闭而爆裂。 来自辞典例句

8 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

9 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

10 covenants   

n.（有法律约束的）协议( covenant的名词复数 )；盟约；公约；（向慈善事业、信托基金会等定期捐款的）契约书

参考例句：

• Do I need to review the Deed of mutual Covenants (DMC)? 我是否需要覆核公共契约(DMC)吗？ 来自互联网
• Many listed and unlisted companies need to sell to address covenants. 许多上市公司和非上市公司需要出售手中资产，以满足借贷契约的要求。 来自互联网

11 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

12 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

13 cathartic   

adj.宣泄情绪的；n.泻剂

参考例句：

• His laughter was cathartic,an animal yelp that brought tears to his eyes.他哈哈大笑以宣泄情绪，声音如野兽般尖厉，眼泪都笑出来了。
• The drug had a cathartic effect.这药有导泻的作用。

14 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。

15 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

16 negligent   

adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的

参考例句：

• The committee heard that he had been negligent in his duty.委员会听说他玩忽职守。
• If the government is proved negligent,compensation will be payable.如果证明是政府的疏忽，就应支付赔偿。

17 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

18 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。

19 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。

20 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

21 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

22 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

23 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

24 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

25 compensating   

补偿，补助，修正

参考例句：

• I am able to set up compensating networks of nerve connections. 我能建立起补偿性的神经联系网。
• It is desirable that compensating cables be run in earthed conduit. 补偿导线最好在地下管道中穿过。

26 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。