美国国家公共电台 NPR--In 1963, Gideon v. Wainwright assured criminal defendants right to an attorney

In 1963, Gideon v. Wainwright assured criminal defendants¹ right to an attorney

Transcript²

This week marks the 60th anniversary of a landmark³ Supreme⁴ Court case that guaranteed criminal defendants the right to a lawyer. That guarantee has been challenged by budgets and high demand.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

This week marks the 60th anniversary of a landmark Supreme Court ruling. In Gideon v. Wainwright, the high court said everyone, regardless of income, has a fundamental right to a lawyer. Here's Attorney General Merrick Garland.

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MERRICK GARLAND: Criminal defense⁵ attorneys put the government's case to the test, and so doing, they make sure that every part of our system is fairer, more equal and more just.

PFEIFFER: But does everyone truly get a robust⁶ legal defense? - because public defenders⁸ face tight budgets and high demand. NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson has been reporting on this for years. She's on the line now.

Good morning, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE⁹: Good morning, Sacha.

PFEIFFER: Carrie, what do public defenders tell you about their overall situation now?

JOHNSON: What I'm hearing is really heavy pressure and not a lot of respect. Stan German is executive director of New York County Defender⁷ Services. He talked about some of those challenges at an event last night in Washington.

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STAN GERMAN: Understaffed, crushing caseloads, underpaid and undervalued. And this is a conscious decision that our legislatures make throughout this country.

JOHNSON: Other public defenders told me providing a robust public defense isn't just a nice thing to do or a good thing to do. This is a constitutional requirement.

PFEIFFER: A requirement but also an expensive one. So how do state and local governments try to meet that requirement when it's also very costly¹⁰? And how do they make sure people with lower incomes have lawyers to represent them in criminal courts?

JOHNSON: There's a nonprofit group called the Sixth Amendment¹¹ Center. They surveyed state and local governments to see how much they're spending. And the center says funding for public defenders is still a drop in the bucket compared to what states pay for police and jails. But they said things have gotten somewhat better in the last decade. More states like Michigan are investing more money and doing more to monitor public defense lawyers and to create standards for them. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed about a dozen lawsuits¹² to try to get states to live up to their obligations, and some of those cases are still going on. Yasmin Cader is deputy legal director at the ACLU.

YASMIN CADER: Because of these failures, the economically marginalized and low-income people, many of whom are Black and other people of color, don't get the legal representation that lives up to what the Constitution mandates¹³.

PFEIFFER: Carrie, what's being done to fix that?

JOHNSON: This week, two Democratic senators, Cory Booker of New Jersey¹⁴, Dick Durbin of Illinois, introduced a bill that would create a $250 million program to help states hire public defenders and investigators¹⁵. And there's stuff going on within the Biden administration, too. The Justice Department reestablished its office called Access to Justice and made a former public defender the leader there.

All this month, senior Justice officials have been traveling all over the country to meet with public defenders and listen to them. They're trying to deliver a message that states can use federal grant money to help fund public defense and public defenders and also to try to achieve pay parity¹⁶ - this issue that public defenders often make a lot less than prosecutors¹⁷. Attorney General Merrick Garland this week basically put out a call to arms. He said young law students should consider public defense work, a job that he called both necessary and noble in many respects.

PFEIFFER: That's NPR's Carrie Johnson.

Carrie, thank you.

JOHNSON: My pleasure.

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1 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 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。

6 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

7 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

8 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

11 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

12 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

13 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

14 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

15 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

17 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。