VOA慢速英語：加州投票結(jié)束死刑

Californians to Vote on Ending Death Penalty

加州投票結(jié)束死刑

Californians will vote in November on whether to stop using execution as a form of punishment, or reform the legal process leading up to the death sentence.

加州將在11月投票是否停止使用死刑作為一種懲罰形式，或者是改革導(dǎo)致死刑的立法程序。

The state of California currently has about 750 people on death row. A lot of them were sentenced to die many years ago, but their cases are still being appealed in the courts.

加利福尼亞政府目前有近750人在死囚牢房。他們中的很多人在很多年前被判處死刑。但是他們的案件在法庭上仍被上訴。

Death penalty process broken

死刑程序被破壞

Activists on both sides of the issue agree that the current system needs to be fixed. Two competing ballot measures attempt to do this.

該問題的雙邊積極分子都表示目前的系統(tǒng)是需要修復(fù)的。雙方的選票試圖這樣表達(dá)。

Proposition 62 would permanently abolish the death penalty in California. If it became law, death row prisoners would have their sentences changed to life in prison with no possibility of being released.

加州62號(hào)提案將永久性廢除死刑。如果它變成法律，死刑囚犯沒有被釋放的可能性，將終身監(jiān)禁。

Proposition 66 would try to speed up executions by reforming parts of the appeals process. The changes would set time limits on court appeals and make more lawyers available to dispute death penalty rulings.

加州66號(hào)提案將試圖通過改革部分申訴程序加速死刑。該改變將設(shè)立法庭申訴的時(shí)間限制以及提供更多的律師質(zhì)疑死刑判決。

Paula Mitchell is with Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, California. She says Californians have spent way too much on executions since the state brought back the death penalty in 1978.

寶拉 米歇爾，洛杉磯洛約拉法學(xué)院。她說：自從1978年恢復(fù)死刑以來，加州已經(jīng)在死刑上花費(fèi)了太多。

Billions spent since 1978

自從1978年來，數(shù)以十億的花費(fèi)

“California taxpayers have spent $5 billion. The state has executed 13 people. Roughly 100 have died on death row before their appeals were finished or before the state could execute them.”

“加州納稅人已經(jīng)花費(fèi)了50億”政府已經(jīng)執(zhí)行死刑13人。粗略統(tǒng)計(jì)約100人在申訴結(jié)束之前或者是政府執(zhí)行死刑之前，已經(jīng)死在死囚牢房。

Actor and activist Mike Farrell says the death penalty has killed innocent people. He claims it is used only against poor people and the poorly defended. “It entraps and kills the innocent. There is simply, in my view, no justice and no justification for it.”

演員和活動(dòng)家麥克 法雷爾說：死刑已經(jīng)殺死了許多無辜的人。他主張，死刑僅僅是用在貧窮的人和無錢辯護(hù)的人身上。“這欺騙了和殺死了無辜。在我看來，這是簡(jiǎn)單的，不公平的并且是沒有正當(dāng)理由的”

Former football player Kermit Alexander supports capital punishment. His mother, sister and two nephews were murdered in Los Angeles in 1984. But Alexander said he believes it should only be for justice, not revenge. The man found guilty of killing his family is still on death row, waiting in jail after more than 30 years.

前足球運(yùn)動(dòng)員凱米特 亞歷山大支持死刑。他的媽媽，姐姐和兩個(gè)侄女在1984年洛杉磯被謀殺。但是亞歷山大說，他相信這僅僅應(yīng)該是因?yàn)檎x而不是報(bào)仇。該人有罪殺死他的家人，目前仍在死囚牢里，已經(jīng)超過了30年。

In addition to California, 30 other American states have the death penalty. But it is rarely carried out in the United States.

除了加州，其他美國(guó)的30個(gè)州也有死刑。但是，在美國(guó)，卻很少執(zhí)行。

Sharp decline in U.S. Executions

美國(guó)死刑的極速下降

The rate of U.S. executions has fallen sharply over the past seven years. In 2009, 52 executions were carried out, according to the Washington D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center. In 2015, there were 28 executions. This year, there have been 15.

美國(guó)死刑率在過去的7年里已經(jīng)極速下降。在2009年，據(jù)華盛頓死刑信息中心報(bào)道，52例死刑案已經(jīng)執(zhí)行。在2015年，28例。2016年，15例。

Many government lawyers say the punishment should be kept for people who carry out the very worst crimes.

許多政府律師說該刑法應(yīng)該保留給那些嚴(yán)重犯罪的人。

Mike Hestrin is District Attorney for Riverside County, California. “I think it is a tool that we prosecutors need, and that the justice system needs, in order to appropriately punish people that commit outrageous and heinous crimes.

麥克 赫斯瑞（音譯）是加州河濱縣地方檢察官。“為了適當(dāng)?shù)膽土P那些令人發(fā)指的罪犯和十惡不赦的罪行，死刑是我們檢察官和司法系統(tǒng)需求的一種工具”

Hestrin added that executions are also a way for society to express anger at the crimes committed.

赫斯瑞強(qiáng)調(diào)：死刑也是社會(huì)表達(dá)對(duì)于犯下罪行的人的憤怒的一種途徑。

Critics like Mike Farrell note that the United States is one of only a few democratic nations to keep the death penalty. “I think it corrupts the society. And I think it demeans us as people.”

評(píng)論家麥克 法雷爾指出美國(guó)為數(shù)不多的民主國(guó)家中保留死刑的國(guó)家之一。“我認(rèn)為它腐化社會(huì)。并且我認(rèn)為它貶低了作為人民的身份”

Californians will vote on the issue November 8.

加利福尼亞州將在11月8日投票該提案。

I’m Bryan Lynn.

布萊恩 林恩報(bào)道。