PBS高端访谈:警察枪杀黑人事件使得人们对正义的定义起了分歧

 　　GWEN IFILL: The uproar¹ over another grand jury's decision not to indict² is making itself felt coast to coast.We start in Staten Island, where Eric Garner³ lived and died, and where members of the grand jury reside. The borough⁴ is also home to many of the city's police officers and firefighters.

　　NewsHour correspondent William Brangham takes us there.

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: While protests of outrage⁵ emerge across the country, and in different parts of New York City, Staten Island, where Eric Garner died, is relatively⁶ quiet. That's because this borough of nearly half-a-million residents is not like the rest of New York.

　　James Cohen teaches criminal law at Fordham University in New York.

　　JAMES COHEN, Fordham University Law School: Staten Island is part of New York City, but in many respects it is unlike the other boroughs⁷. It is the most conservative of the five boroughs. It is the most demographically the same. It matters because the grand jury will consist of those people as well.

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Staten Island is also home to a large percentage of New York's active and retired⁸ firefighters and police officers. And having those public servants as friends and neighbors might influence how people here feel about police and the Garner case compared to the rest of the city.

　　According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, while only half of New Yorkers approve of overall police performance in New York, nearly 80 percent of Staten Islanders do. In the Garner case, 65 percent of New Yorkers felt there was — quote — “no excuse for the police action” seen in that video, but only 45 percent of Staten Islanders felt that way.

　　When asked whether criminal charges should've been brought against the police for Garner's death, 65 percent of New Yorkers supported the idea, but only 42 percent of Staten Islanders did.

　　In our day spent reporting on Staten Island, we couldn't get anyone who supported the grand jury's decision to speak with us on camera, but we found several who were not happy with the decision.

　　WILL GRAHAM, New York: I would think that, you know, justice will prevail if we could see what is going on. Like, we actually have him on tape doing an illegal maneuver⁹, and he still gets off. Like, it seems like that the cops have almost like a cloak of invincibility¹⁰ now, that the justice system is giving them that.

　　KARL WILLIAMS, New York: It like license¹¹ to kill. Like, I don't understand how it's, like, possible for that to even happen. Like, remove the badge, you're a human being. You should be charged just as much as anyone else.

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The Staten Island district attorney, Daniel Donovan Jr., who is up for reelection next year, stated that he conducted a thorough investigation¹² into Garner's death and presented that evidence to the grand jury.

　　In a statement released yesterday, he said — quote — “I assured the public that I was committed to a fair, thorough and responsible investigation into Mr. Garner's death and that I would go wherever the evidence took me, without fear or favor.”

　　But according to Fordham's James Cohen, DAs, not just in Staten Island, but across the U.S., are too close with their local police forces and prosecutors¹³ have a conflict of interest trying to fairly judge police behavior.

　　JAMES COHEN: There is something incestuous, in a way, about that, and that is a principal explanation for why these cases ended up with no true bill, no indictment¹⁴.

　　PATRICK PARROTTA, Criminal Defense¹⁵ Attorney: Jurors usually get it right. And you have to be in the system a lot to see it, but it does work. It does work.

　　JAMES COHEN: Staten Island defense attorney Patrick Parrotta says he believes the system works fairly. He says he has seen instances where police officers do get punished for wrongdoing. But, according to him, the Garner case just wasn't one of them.

　　PATRICK PARROTTA: These cases that evoke¹⁶ a lot of emotional response are very difficult. And the result of them is certainly unpredictable sometimes, and sometimes unpalatable, the result. But I haven't lost faith in the system.

1 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

2 indict   

v.起诉，控告，指控

参考例句：

• You can't indict whole people for the crudeness of a few.您不能因少数人的粗暴行为就控诉整个民族。
• I can indict you for abducting high school student.我可以告你诱拐中学生。

3 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

4 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

5 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 boroughs   

（尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇

参考例句：

• London is made up of 32 boroughs. 伦敦由三十二个行政区组成。
• Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City. 布鲁克林区是纽约市的五个行政区之一。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

10 invincibility   

n.无敌，绝对不败

参考例句：

• The myth of his and Nazi invincibility had been completely destroyed. 过去他本人之神奇传说，以及纳粹之不败言论，至此乃完全破灭。 来自辞典例句
• Our image of invincibility evaporated. 我们战无不胜的形象化为泡影了。 来自辞典例句

11 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

12 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。

13 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。

14 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。

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。