How jails extort the poor | Salil Dudani

Translator: Sandra Peiró Reviewer: Elena Fort

One summer afternoon in 2013,

Una vesprada d'estiu del 2013,

DC police detained, questioned and searched a man

la policía de DC va detindre, interrogar i registrar un home

who appeared suspicious and potentially dangerous.

que pareixia sospitós i potencialment perillós.

This wasn't what I was wearing the day of the detention, to be fair,

Açò no era el que portava el dia de la detenció,

but I have a picture of that as well.

però tinc una foto d'aquell dia.

I know it's very frightening -- try to remain calm.

Ja sé que fa molta por -- intenteu mantindre la calma.

(Laughter)

(Riures)

At this time, I was interning

En aquell moment jo era becari

at the Public Defender Service in Washington DC,

al Servei de Defensa Pública a Washington DC,

and I was visiting a police station for work.

i havia anat per feina a una comissaria.

I was on my way out,

Estava eixint,

and before I could make it to my car,

i abans d'arribar al cotxe,

two police cars pulled up to block my exit,

dos cotxes de policia em van bloquejar l'eixida,

and an officer approached me from behind.

i un policia es va apropar per darrere.

He told me to stop, take my backpack off

Em va dir que parara, que em llevara la motxilla,

and put my hands on the police car parked next to us.

i que posara les mans sobre el cotxe de policia.

About a dozen officers then gathered near us.

Al moment van vindre una dotzena de policies.

All of them had handguns,

Tots portaven pistola,

some had assault rifles.

alguns tenien rifles d'assalt.

They rifled through my backpack.

Em van regirar la motxilla.

They patted me down.

Em van escorcollar.

They took pictures of me spread on the police car,

Em van fer fotos estès sobre el cotxe,

and they laughed.

mentre reien.

And as all this was happening --

I mentre açò passava,

as I was on the police car trying to ignore the shaking in my legs,

assegut dins del cotxe ignorant la tremolor de cames,

trying to think clearly about what I should do --

intentant pensar amb claredat sobre el que havia de fer,

something stuck out to me as odd.

alguna cosa em va parèixer estranya.

When I look at myself in this photo,

Quan em mire en esta foto,

if I were to describe myself,

si m'hagués de descriure,

I think I'd say something like,

crec que diria alguna cosa com,

"19-year-old Indian male, bright T-shirt, wearing glasses."

"Xic de 19 anys d'origen hindú, samarreta llampant, duu ulleres."

But they weren't including any of these details.

Però la policia no va incloure cap d'aquests detalls.

Into their police radios as they described me,

Em descrivien per la ràdio així:

they kept saying, "Middle Eastern male with a backpack.

"Home de l'Orient Mitjà amb una motxilla.

Middle Eastern male with a backpack."

Home de l'Orient Mitjà amb una motxilla."

And this description carried on into their police reports.

I esta és la descripció que van posar als informes.

I never expected to be described by my own government in these terms:

Mai m'havera imaginat que el meu govern em descrigués així:

"lurking,"

"A l'aguait,"

"nefarious,"

"pervers,"

"terrorist."

"terrorista."

And the detention dragged on like this.

I la detenció va continuar d'esta forma.

They sent dogs trained to smell explosives to sweep the area I'd been in.

Van portar gossos entrenats per detectar explosius.

Van cridar el govern federal per vore si estava en alguna llista de buscats.

They called the federal government to see if I was on any watch lists.

They sent a couple of detectives to cross-examine me on why,

Van enviar detectius per interrogar-me sobre per què,

if I claimed I had nothing to hide,

si mantenia que no amagava res,

I wouldn't consent to a search of my car.

no consentia un registre del meu cotxe.

And I could see they weren't happy with me,

I m'adonava que no estaven contents amb mi,

but I felt I had no way of knowing what they'd want to do next.

però no tenia ni idea del que em farien a continuació.

At one point, the officer who patted me down

En un moment donat, l'oficial que em va registrar

scanned the side of the police station to see where the security camera was

va buscar les càmeres de seguretat arreu de l'estació,

to see how much of this was being recorded.

per veure el que s'estava gravant.

And when he did that,

I quan el vaig veure fer això,

it really sank in how completely I was at their mercy.

em vaig adonar que tenien poder sobre mi.

I think we're all normalized from a young age

Crec que ben prompte normalitzem

to the idea of police officers and arrests and handcuffs,

la idea de la policia i les detencions i les manilles,

so it's easy to forget how demeaning and coercive a thing it is

i és fàcil oblidar la degradació que s'hi amaga darrere

to seize control over another person's body.

del fet de prendre el control del cos d'una altra persona.

I know it sounds like the point of my story

Sé que pensareu que el que vull contar-vos

is how badly treated I was because of my race --

és el maltractament que vaig rebre per la meua raça --

and yes, I don't think I would've been detained if I were white.

i sí, dubte que m'haguessen detingut si fos blanc.

But actually, what I have in mind today is something else.

Però el que he vingut a contar és una altra cosa.

What I have in mind is how much worse things might've been

La qüestió és que tot hauria acabat pitjor

if I weren't affluent.

de no haver tingut diners.

I mean, they thought I might be trying to plant an explosive,

Pensaven que intentava posar una bomba,

and they investigated that possibility for an hour and a half,

i van investigar-ne la possibilitat durant hora i mitja,

but I was never put in handcuffs,

però no em van emmanillar,

I was never taken to a jail cell.

ni em van tancar en una cel·la.

I think if I were from one of Washington DC's poor communities of color,

Si jo fora d'una comunitat pobra i de color de Washington

and they thought I was endangering officers' lives,

i pensaren que posava en perill la vida dels oficials,

les coses haurien anat d'una altra manera.

things might've ended differently.

And in fact, in our system, I think it's better to be an affluent person

De fet, al nostre sistema és millor tindre recursos

suspected of trying to blow up a police station

i que et culpen d'intentar explotar la comissaria,

than it is to be a poor person

que ser una persona pobra

who's suspected of much, much less than this.

amb càrrecs molt inferiors a aquest.

I want to give you an example from my current work.

Vull donar-vos un exemple de la meva feina actual.

Right now, I'm working at a civil rights organization in DC,

Treballe en una organització de drets civils a DC,

called Equal Justice Under Law.

que es diu Justícia Igualitària dins la Llei.

Let me start by asking you all a question.

Deixeu que comence fent-vos una pregunta.

How many of you have ever gotten a parking ticket in your life?

Quants de vosaltres heu rebut una multa de tràfic?

Raise your hand.

Alceu les mans.

Yeah. So have I.

Sí. Jo també.

And when I had to pay it,

I quan anava a pagar-la,

it felt annoying and it felt bad,

em feia ràbia i em sentia malament,

but I paid it and I moved on.

però la vaig pagar i llestos.

I'm guessing most of you have paid your tickets as well.

Supose que la majoria també les heu pagat.

But what would happen if you couldn't afford the amount on the ticket

Però què passaria si no tinguereu diners

and your family doesn't have the money either, what happens then?

i la vostra família tampoc, què passaria?

Well, one thing that's not supposed to happen under the law is,

Una cosa que no hauria de permetre la llei és

you're not supposed to be arrested and jailed

ser detingut i encarcerat

simply because you can't afford to pay.

només per no poder pagar una multa.

That's illegal under federal law.

La llei federal diu que això és il·legal.

But that's what local governments across the country are doing

Però aixó és el que els governs locals estan fent

to people who are poor.

a la gent sense recursos.

And so many of our lawsuits at Equal Justice Under Law

I moltes de les causes que portem a Justicia Igualitària

target these modern-day debtors' prisons.

vigilen estes presons de deutors modernes.

One of our cases is against Ferguson, Missouri.

Un dels nostres casos és contra Ferguson a Missouri.

And I know when I say Ferguson,

I sé que quan dic Ferguson,

many of you will think of police violence.

molts pensareu en violència policial.

But today I want to talk about a different aspect

Però hui vinc a parlar d'un aspecte diferent

of the relationship between their police force and their citizens.

de la relació entre el cos policial i els ciutadans.

Ferguson was issuing an average of over two arrest warrants,

Ferguson signava més de dues ordres d'arrestament

per person, per year,

per persona a l'any,

mostly for unpaid debt to the courts.

la majoria per deutes judicials.

When I imagine what that would feel like if, every time I left my house,

Quan imagine com seria sentir que cada volta que isca de casa,

there was a chance a police officer would run my license plate,

és possible que un oficial comprovara la meua matrícula,

see a warrant for unpaid debt,

i en veure un deute judicial,

seize my body they way the did in DC

m'enxampara com van fer a DC,

and then take me to a jail cell,

i em clavaren a la cel·la,

I feel a little sick.

em pose malalt.

I've met many of the people in Ferguson who have experienced this,

He conegut més persones a Ferguson que han viscut açò,

and I've heard some of their stories.

i he escoltat les seues històries.

In Ferguson's jail,

A la presó de Ferguson,

in each small cell, there's a bunk bed and a toilet,

en cada cel·la hi ha una llitera i un vàter,

but they'd pack four people into each cell.

però hi posen quatre persones dins.

So there'd be two people on the bunks and two people on the floor,

De forma que dos dormen a la llitera i dos a terra,

one with nowhere to go except right next to the filthy toilet,

i una ha de posar-se al costat del vàter,

which was never cleaned.

que ningú ha netejat mai.

In fact, the whole cell was never cleaned,

De fet, la cel·la sencera mai l'han netejat,

so the floor and the walls were lined with blood and mucus.

així que el sòl i les parets són plenes de sang i mocs.

No water to drink,

No hi ha aigua

except coming out of a spigot connected to the toilet.

excepte la de l'aixeta connectada al vàter.

The water looked and tasted dirty,

L'aigua era bruta i tenia mal gust,

there was never enough food,

mai hi havia prou menjar,

never any showers,

no et pots dutxar,

women menstruating without any hygiene products,

les dones menstruaven sense cap producte d'higiene,

no medical attention whatsoever.

no hi havia cap mena d'atenció mèdica.

When I asked a woman about medical attention,

Quan li vaig preguntar a una dona sobre açò,

she laughed, and she said, "Oh, no, no.

es va riure i em va dir, "Ai, no, no,

The only attention you get from the guards in there is sexual."

L'única atenció que reps dels guàrdies aquí és sexual."

So, they'd take the debtors to this place and they'd say,

Així que ficaven ací als deutors i els deien,

"We're not letting you leave until you make a payment on your debt."

"No eixireu fins que no pagueu el deute."

And if you could -- if you could call a family member

I si podies trucar un familiar

who could somehow come up with some money,

que puguera portar-te els diners,

then maybe you were out.

potser et deixaven eixir.

If it was enough money, you were out.

Si et portaven prou diners et deixaven eixir.

But if it wasn't, you'd stay there for days or weeks,

Però si no, t'hi quedaves dies o setmanes,

and every day the guards would come down to the cells

i cada dia els guàrdies baixaven a les cel·les

and haggle with the debtors about the price of release that day.

i regatejaven amb els deutors el preu d'eixida d'aquell dia.

You'd stay until, at some point, the jail would be booked to capacity,

Et quedaves fins que la presó s'omplia,

and they'd want to book someone new in.

i volien posar-n'hi un altre.

And at that point, they'd think,

Arribats a este punt pensaven,

"OK, it's unlikely this person can come up with the money,

"No crec que esta persona reuneixi els diners,

it's more likely this new person will."

potser la nova sí que en tindrà."

You're out, they're in, and the machine kept moving like that.

Tu ixes, l'altre entra, i la màquina continua movent-se.

I met a man who,

Vaig conèixer un home

nine years ago, was arrested for panhandling in a Walgreens.

que va ser detingut feia nou anys per pidolar en un Walgreens.

He couldn't afford his fines and his court fees from that case.

No podia pagar les multes i els honoraris del seu cas.

When he was young he survived a house fire,

De jove va sobreviure un incendi

only because he jumped out of the third-story window to escape.

perquè va saltar des de la finestra d'un tercer pis.

But that fall left him with damage to his brain

Però en caure es va fer mal al cervell

and several parts of this body, including his leg.

i a diverses parts del cos, incloent-hi la cama.

So he can't work,

No pot treballar,

and he relies on social security payments to survive.

i sobreviu gràcies a les ajudes socials.

When I met him in his apartment,

Quan vaig anar al seu pis,

he had nothing of value there -- not even food in his fridge.

no hi havia res de valor, ni tan sols menjar a la nevera.

He's chronically hungry.

És un famolenc crònic.

He had nothing of value in his apartment except a small piece of cardboard

No hi havia res de valor llevat d'un tros de cartró

on which he'd written the names of his children.

on havia escrit els noms dels seus fills.

He cherished this a lot. He was happy to show it to me.

Açò s'ho estimava molt. Me'l va ensenyar molt content.

But he can't pay his fines and fees because he has nothing to give.

Però no pot pagar les multes i les quotes perquè no té res.

In the last nine years, he's been arrested 13 times,

En els últims nou anys, l'han detingut 13 vegades,

and jailed for a total of 130 days on that panhandling case.

i ha estat empresonat 130 dies per pidolar.

One of those stretches lasted 45 days.

Una vegada 45 dies seguits.

Just imagine spending from right now until sometime in June

Imagineu passar des d'ara mateix fins a juny

in the place that I described to you a few moments ago.

en aquell lloc que vos he descrit abans.

He told me about all the suicide attempts he's seen in Ferguson's jail;

Em va contar els intents de suïcidi que ha vist a la presó;

about the time a man found a way to hang himself

aquella volta que un home va aconseguir penjar-se

out of reach of the other inmates,

on no el pogueren salvar els altres presos,

so all they could do was yell and yell and yell,

i l'única cosa que podien fer era cridar i cridar

trying to get the guards' attention

intentant cridar l'atenció d'un guàrdia

so they could come down and cut him down.

perquè vinguera a baixar-lo.

And he told me that it took the guards over five minutes to respond,

Em va contar que els guàrdies tardaren més de cinc minuts en respondre,

and when they came, the man was unconscious.

i quan van arribar, l'home estava inconscient.

So they called the paramedics and the paramedics went to the cell.

Van cridar els paramèdics i estos van anar a la cel·la.

They said, "He'll be OK,"

Van dir que es posaria bé,

so they just left him there on the floor.

el van deixar allí a terra i ja està.

I heard many stories like this and they shouldn't have surprised me,

Vaig sentir moltes històries com esta i no m'hauria de sorprendre,

because suicide is the single leading cause of death in our local jails.

perquè el suïcidi és la principal causa de mort a les presons locals.

This is related to the lack of mental health care in our jails.

Açò és per causa de la manca d'atenció psicològica a les presons.

I met a woman, single mother of three, making seven dollars an hour.

Vaig conèixer una mare de tres xiquets que guanyava set dòlars l'hora.

She relies on food stamps to feed herself and her children.

Ella i els seus fills s'alimenten gràcies a cupons.

About a decade ago,

Fa més o menys una dècada,

she got a couple of traffic tickets and a minor theft charge,

li van posar un parell de multes de tràfic i un càrrec menor de robatori,

and she can't afford her fines and fees on those cases.

i no pot pagar les multes i les quotes d'eixos casos.

Since then, she's been jailed about 10 times on those cases,

Ja ha passat unes deu voltes per la presó per allò,

but she has schizophrenia and bipolar disorder,

però pateix d'esquizofrènia i de trastorn bipolar,

and she needs medication every day.

i necessita medicació diària.

She doesn't have access to those medications in Ferguson's jail,

A la presó no té accés a la medicació,

because no one has access to their medications.

ni ella ni ningú.

She told me about what it was like to spend two weeks in a cage,

Em va contar el que és passar dues setmanes dins d'una gàbia,

hallucinating people and shadows and hearing voices,

tenint al·lucinacions i veient ombres i sentint veus,

begging for the medication that would make it all stop,

mentre demanava la medicació per deixar de patir,

only to be ignored.

i que no li feren ni cas.

And this isn't anomalous, either:

Aquest cas no és cap anomalia:

trenta per cent de les dones encarcerades

thirty percent of women in our local jails have serious mental health needs

necessiten ajuda psicològica,

just like hers,

but only one in six receives any mental health care while in jail.

però només una de sis rep cap ajuda mentre està tancada.

And so, I heard all these stories about this grotesque dungeon

Vaig sentir tota mena d'històries sobre estes masmorres grotesques

that Ferguson was operating for its debtors,

que Ferguson manté per als seus deutors,

and when it came time for me to actually see it

i quan em va arribar el torn de veure-les

and to go visit Ferguson's jail,

i de visitar la presó de Ferguson,

I'm not sure what I was expecting to see,

no tinc clar què esperava veure,

but I wasn't expecting this.

però no esperava açò.

It's an ordinary government building.

Un edifici del govern normal.

It could be a post office or a school.

Podria ser una oficina de correus o una escola,

It reminded me that these illegal extortion schemes

Em vaig adonar que aquestes extorsions il·legals

aren't being run somewhere in the shadows,

no es duen a terme a l'ombra,

they're being run out in the open by our public officials.

sinó en plena llum del dia i per funcionaris públics.

They're a matter of public policy.

Són una qüestió de política pública.

And this reminded me that poverty jailing in general,

I vaig comprendre que l'empresonament de pobres,

even outside the debtors' prison context,

encara que siga en altres contextos,

plays a very visible and central role in our justice system.

juga un paper visible i central en el nostre sistema judicial.

What I have in mind is our policy of bail.

Estic parlant del nostre sistema de fiança.

In our system, whether you're detained or free,

En el nostre sistema, ja estigues detingut o no,

pending trial is not a matter of how dangerous you are

anar a judici no és qüestió del perill que comportes

or how much of a flight risk you pose.

o les possibilitats de fuga.

It's a matter of whether you can afford to post your bail amount.

És qüestió de si pots permetre't pagar la fiança.

So Bill Cosby, whose bail was set at a million dollars,

Bill Cosby, amb una fiança d'un mil·lió de dòlars,

immediately writes the check, and doesn't spend a second in a jail cell.

firma el taló i no passa ni un segon en una cel·la.

But Sandra Bland, who died in jail,

Sandra Bland, que va morir a la presó,

was only there because her family was unable to come up with 500 dollars.

estava allí perquè la seua familia no podia pagar 500 dòlars.

In fact, there are half a million Sandra Blands across the country --

Hi ha mig mil·lió de dones com ella al país --

500,000 people who are in jail right now,

500.000 persones que estan empresonades,

only because they can't afford their bail amount.

només perquè no poden pagar la fiança.

We're told that our jails are places for criminals,

Se suposa que les presons són per als criminals,

but statistically that's not the case:

però la estadística diu una altra cosa:

three out of every five people in jail right now are there pretrial.

tres de cada cinc persones encarcerades estàn en presó preventiva.

They haven't been convicted of any crime;

No els han condemnat per cap crim;

they haven't pled guilty to any offense.

no han estat declarats culpables per cap delicte.

Right here in San Francisco,

Ací a San Francisco,

85 percent of the inmates in our jail in San Francisco

el 85 per cent dels presos

are pretrial detainees.

són detinguts en presó preventiva.

This means San Francisco is spending something like 80 million dollars

Això significa que la ciutat gasta al voltant de 80 milions

every year

cada any

to fund pretrial detention.

per finançar la presó preventiva.

Many of these people who are in jail only because they can't post bail

Molts d'aquests encarcerats que no poden pagar la fiança

are facing allegations so minor

s'enfronten a càrrecs tan lleus

that the amount of time it would take for them to sit waiting for trial

que el termini que esperaran pel judici

is longer than the sentence they would receive if convicted,

és més llarg que les sentències que rebrien de ser condemnats,

which means they're guaranteed to get out faster

això vol dir que surten abans

if they just plead guilty.

si es declaren culpables.

So now the choice is:

Així que l'elecció és la següent:

Should I stay here in this horrible place,

Em quede en aquest lloc horrible,

away from my family and my dependents,

lluny de la família i els que depenen de mi,

almost guaranteed to lose my job,

arriscant-me a perdre la meva feina,

and then fight the charges?

i he de rebatre els càrrecs?

Or should I just plead guilty to whatever the prosecutor wants and get out?

O em declare culpable del que siga que vulga l'acusació?

En aquest moment encara no són criminals declarats.

And at this point, they're pretrial detainees, not criminals.

Però una vegada confessen, els direm criminals,

But once they take that plea deal, we'll call them criminals,

encara que algú amb recursos mai s'haguera enfrentat a açò,

even though an affluent person would never have been in this situation,

perquè haguera pagat la fiança i fi de la història.

because an affluent person would have simply been bailed out.

At this point you might be wondering,

Ara mateix estareu pensant,

"This guy's in the inspiration section, what is he doing --

"Però açò no estava a la secció d'inspiració?"

(Laughter)

(Riures)

"This is extremely depressing. I want my money back."

"Què depriment. Que em tornen els diners."

(Laughter)

(Riures)

But in actuality,

En realitat,

I find talking about jailing much less depressing than the alternative,

trobe que parlar d'aquest tema és menys depriment que no fer-ho,

because I think if we don't talk about these issues

perquè crec que si no parlem d'aquestos temes

and collectively change how we think about jailing,

i canviem junts la forma de pensar sobre açò,

at the end of all of our lives,

al final de les nostres vides,

we'll still have jails full of poor people who don't belong there.

les presons encara estaran plenes d'innocents.

That really is depressing to me.

Açò sí que em resulta depriment.

But what's exciting to me is the thought that these stories can move us

Però el que m'inspira és que estes històries

to think about jailing in different terms.

ens animen a veure la presó de forma diferent.

Not in sterile policy terms like "mass incarceration,"

No en termes estèrils com "encarcerament massiu"

or "sentencing of nonviolent offenders,"

o "sentències a criminals no violents,"

but in human terms.

sinó en termes humans.

When we put a human being in a cage for days or weeks or months

Quan engabiem un ésser humà durant dies o setmanes

or even years,

mesos o anys,

what are we doing to that person's mind and body?

què estem fent-li a nivell mental i físic?

Under what conditions are we really willing to do that?

En quines condicions volem fer-ho?

And so if starting with a few hundred of us in this room,

Si comencem amb uns centenars dels que estem ací,

we can commit to thinking about jailing in this different light,

podem començar a veure aquest tema de forma diferent,

then we can undo that normalization I was referring to earlier.

i aconseguir desfer la normalització.

If I leave you with anything today, I hope it's with the thought

Si us emporteu alguna cosa hui, espere que siga la idea

that if we want anything to fundamentally change --

que si volem que alguna cosa canvie de veres --

not just to reform our policies on bail and fines and fees --

que no siga sols reformar les polítiques de les fiances --

but also to make sure that whatever new policies replace those

i assegurar-nos que les polítiques noves

don't punish the poor and the marginalized in their own new way.

no castiguen els pobres i els marginats de formes noves.

If we want that kind of change,

Si volem aquest tipus de canvi,

then this shift in thinking is required of each of us.

és necessari que canviem el xip.

Thank you.

Gràcies.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)