密歇根新闻广播 最大规模一次性释放囚犯是一个好的开端

Over the past few days, thousands of federal inmates¹ were released from prison due to a change in the way the federal government sentences drug criminals.

It adds up to the largest one-time release of federal prisoners.

Brandon Sample is the executive director of Prisology, a national nonprofit movement dedicated² to reform of the criminal justice system.

Sample tells us the change was made by "a little-known agency" called the United States Sentencing Commission.

He says that for the past several years the commission has been examining issues such as overpopulation and mass incarceration³ within the criminal justice system.

The commission decided⁴ to pass this amendment⁵ to the United States Sentencing Guidelines and to apply the change retroactively.

"This amendment deals with individuals who have been convicted of drug crimes, the vast majority of whom are low-level nonviolent offenders," he says.

Sample tells us the implementation⁶ of this change was delayed a year so as to give probation⁷ officers and federal judges time to go over each case individually and make sure that any inmates who pose a genuine threat to the public would not be released as a result of the amendment.

Sample says that "46,000 in total have the potential to benefit from this change," but so far the data shows about one in four eligible⁸ prisoners being denied release for one reason or another.

About 6,000 inmates are being released in this first wave, and according to Sample, "It's going to take a number of years before we see the full implementation of this."

He adds that many of the people being released have been living outside of prison for some time now, either through halfway⁹ houses or home confinement¹⁰.

"There are some being released directly, but that tends to be the exception," he says.

Eighty-three of those 6,000 prisoners were in Michigan when they were sentenced, and Sample says that will make the release process a little bit different for some of them.

"In Michigan, simply because of the way the state is structured, you have, in the rural areas you have a good number of federal prisoners who actually go through county jails," he says.

Sample tells us that data suggests that the rate of recidivism¹¹ for those affected¹² by retroactive sentencing changes is on par¹³ with that of those released normally, and that "the vast majority" people released as a result of this action are going through something called "supervised release."

"They're going to have a United States probation officer that's charged with the responsibility of making sure that they're complying with certain standard conditions of their release," Sample says. "So even though they are being released it's not like there is no leash¹⁴, so to speak."

Sample explains that as time goes on and individuals show compliance¹⁵ with the terms of their release, they can work their way into less intense levels of supervision¹⁶.

Sample tells us that this move is a step in the right direction for criminal justice reform, but it's only the first step in a long journey.

While 46,000 is a pretty huge group of people, "when you compare it to the over two million people that are incarcerated¹⁷ in the United States, it really is just a drop in the bucket," he says.

"It is a good first start, but we have so much more work to do."

1 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》

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 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

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 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。

6 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

7 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

8 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

9 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

10 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

11 recidivism   

n.累犯，再犯

参考例句：

• Many areas and work units have experienced no recidivism at all for as long as ten or more years.不少地区和单位出现了连续几年、十几年没有发生重新犯罪的好典型。
• It needs to supplement the personality factor to confirm the ordinary recidivism.在普通累犯成立的条件中,应增加罪犯的人格因素。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

14 leash   

n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住

参考例句：

• I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳，但被狗挡住了路。
• The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带，想挣脱开去。

15 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

16 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

17 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白