Lessons from death row inmates | David R. Dow

Translator: Jenny Zurawell Reviewer: Thu-Huong Ha

Translator: Vicky Lara Labaila Reviewer: Anna Comas-Quinn

Fa dues setmanes,

estava assegut a la taula de la cuina amb la meva dona Katya,

Two weeks ago,

I was sitting at the kitchen table with my wife Katya,

i estàvem parlant sobre el que parlaria avui.

and we were talking about what I was going to talk about today.

Tenim un fill d'onze anys, que es diu Lincoln.

Estava assegut a la mateixa taula, fent els deures de mates.

We have an 11-year-old son; his name is Lincoln.

He was sitting at the same table, doing his math homework.

I durant una pausa en la conversa amb la Katya,

And during a pause in my conversation with Katya,

vaig fer una ullada a en Lincoln

i de sobte em vaig quedar paralitzat

I looked over at Lincoln

and I was suddenly thunderstruck

pel record d'un dels meus clients.

by a recollection of a client of mine.

El meu client era un paio que es deia Will.

Era del nord de Texas.

My client was a guy named Will.

Mai no conegué massa el seu pare,

He was from North Texas.

perquè abandonà la seva mare quan estava embarassada d'ell.

He never knew his father very well,

because his father left his mom while she was pregnant with him.

Així que, estava destinat a ser criat per una mare soltera,

And so, he was destined to be raised by a single mom,

que podria haver estat bé,

excepte que aquesta mare soltera era paranoica esquizofrènica,

which might have been all right

except that this particular single mom was a paranoid schizophrenic,

i quan en Will tenia cinc anys,

l'intentà matar amb un ganivet.

and when Will was five years old,

she tried to kill him with a butcher knife.

Fou internada en un hospital psquiàtric per les autoritats,

She was taken away by authorities and placed in a psychiatric hospital,

i per això els propers anys en Will visqué amb el seu germà gran,

and so for the next several years Will lived with his older brother,

fins que aquest se suïcidà d'un tret al cor.

until he committed suicide by shooting himself through the heart.

I després, en Will passà de mans d'un parent a un altre,

And after that Will bounced around from one family member to another,

fins que, quan tenia nou anys, vivia bàsicament sol.

until, by the time he was nine years old, he was essentially living on his own.

Aquell matí que estava amb la Katya i en Lincoln,

vaig mirar-me el meu fill i em vaig adonar que quan en Will tenia la seva edat,

That morning that I was sitting with Katya and Lincoln,

I looked at my son, and I realized that when my client, Will, was his age,

ja feia dos anys que vivia sol.

he'd been living by himself for two years.

Amb el temps, en Will s'uní a una banda

i cometé una sèrie de crims molt greus,

Will eventually joined a gang

and committed a number of very serious crimes,

incloient-hi el més greu de tots,

including, most seriously of all,

un assassinat horrible i tràgic.

a horrible, tragic murder.

I al final en Will fou executat, com a càstig per aquell crim.

And Will was ultimately executed as punishment for that crime.

Però avui no vull parlar sobre la moralitat de la pena de mort.

But I don't want to talk today about the morality of capital punishment.

Per a mi, el meu client no hauria d'haver estat executat,

I certainly think that my client shouldn't have been executed,

però el que voldria fer avui en comptes d'això,

but what I would like to do today instead

és parlar de la pena de mort d'una forma en què no he fet mai,

is talk about the death penalty in a way I've never done before,

d'una manera que no és gens controvertida.¶

in a way that is entirely noncontroversial.

Penso que és possible,

perquè hi ha un punt en el debat sobre la pena de mort

I think that's possible,

because there is a corner of the death penalty debate --

−potser el punt més important−

en què tothom està d'acord,

maybe the most important corner --

en què els defensors més apassionats de la pena de mort

where everybody agrees,

where the most ardent death penalty supporters

i els abolicionistes més vehements comparteixen opinió.

and the most vociferous abolitionists are on exactly the same page.

I és aquest el punt que vull explorar.

That's the corner I want to explore.

Abans de fer-ho, però, vull passar un parell de minuts

explicant-vos el patró d'un cas de pena de mort,

Before I do that, though, I want to spend a couple of minutes

telling you how a death penalty case unfolds,

i després vull explicar-vos les dues lliçons

que he après en 20 anys fent d'advocat

and then I want to tell you two lessons

that I have learned over the last 20 years as a death penalty lawyer

a través de l'observació acurada de més de 100 casos amb aquest patró.

from watching well more than a hundred cases unfold in this way.

Penseu en un cas de pena de mort com una història amb 4 capítols.

You can think of a death penalty case as a story that has four chapters.

El primer capítol de cada cas és exactament el mateix, i és tràgic.

The first chapter of every case is exactly the same, and it is tragic.

Comença amb l'assassinat d'un ésser humà innocent,

It begins with the murder of an innocent human being,

i el segueix un judici

en què l'assassí és condemnat a mort

and it's followed by a trial

where the murderer is convicted and sent to death row,

i la sentència és ratificada després pel tribunal d'apel·lacions estatal.

and that death sentence is ultimately upheld by the state appellate court.

El segon capítol consisteix en un procediment legal complexe:

The second chapter consists of a complicated legal proceeding

l'apel·lació habeas corpus estatal.

known as a state habeas corpus appeal.

El tercer capítol és un procediment legal encara més complicat

anomenat procediment d'habeas corpus federal.

The third chapter is an even more complicated legal proceeding

I el quart capítol és quan poden succeir una varietat de coses.

known as a federal habeas corpus proceeding.

And the fourth chapter is one where a variety of things can happen.

Els advocats poden presentar una petició de clemència

o poden iniciar un litigi encara més complex

The lawyers might file a clemency petition,

o poden optar per no fer res.

they might initiate even more complex litigation,

Però el quart capítol acaba sempre amb una execució.

or they might not do anything at all.

But that fourth chapter always ends with an execution.

Quan vaig començar a representar presos al corredor de la mort fa 20 anys,

When I started representing death row inmates more than 20 years ago,

els condemnats a mort no tenien dret a un advocat

ni durant el segon ni el quart capítol d'aquesta història.

people on death row did not have a right to a lawyer

in either the second or the fourth chapter of this story.

Estaven sols.

De fet, no va ser fins a finals dels 80

They were on their own.

que van assolir el dret a un advocat durant el tercer capítol de la història.

In fact, it wasn't until the late 1980s

that they acquired a right to a lawyer during the third chapter of the story.

Així que el que havien de fer era confiar en advocats voluntaris

So what all of these death row inmates had to do was rely on volunteer lawyers

que s'ocupessin dels seus casos.

El problema és que hi havia molts més presos al corredor de la mort

to handle their legal proceedings.

The problem is that there were way more guys on death row

que advocats

amb l'interès i la preparació per a treballar en aquells casos.

than there were lawyers

who had both the interest and the expertise to work on these cases.

Inevitablement,

els advocats s'inclinaven per casos que ja estaven al quart capítol

And so inevitably,

lawyers drifted to cases that were already in chapter four --

−és lògic, és clar.

Eren els casos més urgents,

that makes sense, of course.

eren els que més a prop estaven de ser executats.

Those are the cases that are most urgent;

Alguns advocats se'n sortien:

those are the guys who are closest to being executed.

aconseguien nous judicis per als seus clients.

Some of these lawyers were successful;

Altres aconseguien allargar-los la vida,

they managed to get new trials for their clients.

Others of them managed to extend the lives of their clients,

a vegades, anys; a vegades, mesos.

sometimes by years, sometimes by months.

Però el que no succeí mai

fou que es produís una davallada seriosa i sostinguda

But the one thing that didn't happen

was that there was never a serious and sustained decline

en el nombre anual d'execucions a Texas.

in the number of annual executions in Texas.

De fet, com podeu veure a la gràfica,

des que el sistema d'execucions de Texas esdevingué eficient,

In fact, as you can see from this graph,

from the time that the Texas execution apparatus got efficient

de mitjans a finals dels 90,

només hi ha hagut un parell d'anys

in the mid- to late 1990s,

en què el nombre anual d'execucions hagi caigut per sota de 20.

there have only been a couple of years

where the number of annual executions dipped below 20.

En un any típic a Texas,

la mitjana és de dues persones al mes.

In a typical year in Texas,

we're averaging about two people a month.

Alguns anys, a Texas, hem executat gairebé 40 persones,

In some years in Texas, we've executed close to 40 people,

i aquest nombre no ha baixat significativament en els darrers 15 anys.

and this number has never significantly declined over the last 15 years.

Tot i això, mentre continuem executant

And yet, at the same time that we continue to execute

més o menys el mateix nombre de gent cada any,

el nombre de sentenciats a mort anualment

about the same number of people every year,

the number of people who we're sentencing to death on an annual basis

ha caigut dràsticament.

Així que trobem aquesta paradoxa,

has dropped rather steeply.

el nombre d'execucions anuals es manté alt,

So we have this paradox,

which is that the number of annual executions has remained high

mentre que el nombre de nous sentenciats a mort ha baixat.

but the number of new death sentences has gone down.

Per què passa això?

No es pot atribuir a un descens en el nombre d'assassinats,

Why is that?

It can't be attributed to a decline in the murder rate,

perquè el nombre d'assassinats no ha caigut de forma tan pronunciada

because the murder rate has not declined nearly so steeply

com ho ha fet la línea vermella d'aquesta gràfica.

El que ha passat, en canvi,

as the red line on that graph has gone down.

és que els jurats han començat a sentenciar més gent

What has happened instead

is that juries have started to sentence more and more people to prison

a penes de cadena perpètua sense llibertat condicional,

en comptes d'enviar-los a la sala d'execucions.

for the rest of their lives without the possibility of parole,

rather than sending them to the execution chamber.

Per què ha passat això?

No ha succeït perquè hagi desaparegut

Why has that happened?

It hasn't happened because of a dissolution

el suport popular per la pena de mort.

Els que s'oposen a la pena de mort es consolen perquè

of popular support for the death penalty.

el suport a la pena de mort a Texas està en el seu punt més baix.

Death penalty opponents take great solace in the fact

that death penalty support in Texas is at an all-time low.

Sabeu què significa el punt més baix a Texas?

Significa que està al 60%.

Do you know what all-time low in Texas means?

Això està molt bé comparat amb mitjans dels 80,

It means that it's in the low 60 percent.

Now, that's really good compared to the mid-1980s,

quan superava el 80%,

però no podem explicar el descens de sentències de mort

when it was in excess of 80 percent,

i la preferència per la cadena perpètua sense llibertat condicional

but we can't explain the decline in death sentences

and the affinity for life without the possibility of parole

per una erosió en el suport a la pena de mort,

perquè la gent encara hi està a favor.

by an erosion of support for the death penalty,

Què ha passat per causar aquest fenomen?

because people still support the death penalty.

What's happened to cause this phenomenon?

Que els advocats que representen a condemnats a mort

What's happened is that lawyers who represent death row inmates

han passat a ocupar-se dels capítols previs

have shifted their focus to earlier and earlier chapters

d'aquesta història.

Així, fa 25 anys, es concentraven en el quart capítol.

of the death penalty story.

So 25 years ago, they focused on chapter four.

I passaren del quart capítol fa 25 anys,

al tercer capítol a finals dels 80.

And they went from chapter four 25 years ago

to chapter three in the late 1980s.

I passaren del tercer capítol a finals dels 80,

al segon capítol a meitats dels 90.

And they went from chapter three in the late 1980s

I des de meitats fins a finals dels 90,

to chapter two in the mid-1990s.

passaren al primer capítol de la història.

And beginning in the mid- to late 1990s,

they began to focus on chapter one of the story.

Podeu pensar que la davallada en sentències de mort

Now, you might think that this decline in death sentences

i l'increment en el nombre de cadenes perpètues

és bo o dolent.

and the increase in the number of life sentences

No vull parlar sobre això avui.

is a good thing or a bad thing.

El que us vull dir és que la raó que ho explica

I don't want to have a conversation about that today.

All that I want to tell you is that the reason that this has happened

és que els advocats hem entès

que com més aviat intervens en un cas,

is because death penalty lawyers have understood

majors són les probabilitats de salvar la vida del teu client.

that the earlier you intervene in a case,

the greater the likelihood that you're going to save your client's life.

És el primer que he après.

La segona cosa que he après:

That's the first thing I've learned.

el meu client Will no era una excepció a la regla:

Here's the second thing I learned:

My client Will was not the exception to the rule;

ell era la regla.

he was the rule.

A vegades dic: "Si em dius el nom d'un condemnat a mort

I sometimes say, if you tell me the name of a death row inmate --

−tant se val de quin estat,

encara que no l'hagi conegut mai−,

doesn't matter what state he's in,

t'escriuré la seva biografia."

doesn't matter if I've ever met him before --

I 8 de cada 10 vegades,

I'll write his biography for you.

els detalls de la biografia seran més o menys correctes.

And eight out of 10 times,

the details of that biography will be more or less accurate.

I la raó és que el 80% dels condemnats a mort

And the reason for that is that 80 percent of the people on death row

són gent que prové del mateix tipus de família disfuncional que en Will.

are people who came from the same sort of dysfunctional family that Will did.

El 80% dels condemnats a mort

ha passat pel sistema judicial juvenil.

Eighty percent of the people on death row

are people who had exposure to the juvenile justice system.

Aquesta és la segona lliçó que he après.

That's the second lesson that I've learned.

Ara som just a tocar d'aquell punt

Now we're right on the cusp of that corner

que us deia en què tothom coincideix.

where everybody's going to agree.

Alguns dels presents poden dissentir

sobre si en Will hauria d'haver estar executat,

People in this room might disagree

però penso que tothom estaria d'acord

about whether Will should have been executed,

en què la millor versió possible d'aquesta història

but I think everybody would agree

that the best possible version of his story

seria una història en què no hi ha cap assassinat.

would be a story where no murder ever occurs.

Com podem aconseguir-ho?

Quan el nostre fill feia aquell problema de mates fa 2 setmanes,

How do we do that?

When our son Lincoln was working on that math problem two weeks ago,

era un problema enrevessat.

I estava aprenent que, quan tens un problema enrevessat,

it was a big, gnarly problem.

And he was learning how, when you have a big old gnarly problem,

a vegades la solució és dividir-lo en problemes més petits.

sometimes the solution is to slice it into smaller problems.

Ho fem per a la majoria de problemes

−mates, física, fins i tot política social−

That's what we do for most problems --

els dividim en problemes més petits, més manejables.

in math, in physics, even in social policy --

we slice them into smaller, more manageable problems.

Però de tant en tant, com en Dwight Eisenhower digué:

But every once in a while, as Dwight Eisenhower said,

la forma de resoldre un problema és fer-lo més gran.

the way you solve a problem is to make it bigger.

La forma de resoldre aquest problema

és fer aquest assumpte de la pena de mort més gran.

The way we solve this problem

is to make the issue of the death penalty bigger.

Hem de dir-nos: "D'acord.

Tenim aquests quatre capítols en una història de pena de mort,

We have to say, all right.

We have these four chapters of a death penalty story,

però què passa abans que comenci?"

but what happens before that story begins?

Com podem intervenir en la vida d'un assassí

How can we intervene in the life of a murderer

abans que ho sigui?

before he's a murderer?

Quines opcions tenim per fer que aquesta persona no segueixi el camí

What options do we have to nudge that person off of the path

que la durà a un resultat que tothom

that is going to lead to a result that everybody --

−defensors i detractors−

death penalty supporters and death penalty opponents --

pensa que és un mal resultat:

still think is a bad result:

l'assassinat d'una persona innocent?

the murder of an innocent human being?

Es diu que hi ha coses que no són enginyeria aeronàutica.

You know, sometimes people say that something isn't rocket science.

Es diu quan parlem de quelcom molt complicat

i aquest problema és realment simple.

And by that, what they mean is rocket science is really complicated

and this problem that we're talking about now is really simple.

Això és enginyeria aeronàutica:

aquesta és l'expressió matemàtica per calcular la propulsió d'un coet.

Well that's rocket science;

that's the mathematical expression for the thrust created by a rocket.

Del que parlem avui és tan complicat com això.

What we're talking about today is just as complicated.

Del que parlem avui és també enginyeria aeronàutica.

What we're talking about today is also rocket science.

El meu client Will i el 80% dels condemnats a mort

My client Will and 80 percent of the people on death row

tenien cinc capítols a les seves vides

que anaven abans dels quatre capítols de la història de la pena de mort.

had five chapters in their lives

that came before the four chapters of the death penalty story.

Penso en aquests cinc capítols com a punts d'intervenció,

I think of these five chapters as points of intervention,

moments a les seves vides

en els quals la nostra societat podia haver intervingut

places in their lives

when our society could've intervened in their lives

perquè no seguissin el camí en què es trobaven

i que creà una conseqüència en la que tots coincidim

and nudged them off of the path that they were on

−defensors i detractors−

that created a consequence that we all --

death penalty supporters or death penalty opponents --

que és un mal resultat.

En cadascun d'aquest cinc capítols,

say was a bad result.

quan la mare n'estava embarassada;

Now, during each of these five chapters:

durant la seva primera infància;

when his mother was pregnant with him;

quan anava a l'escola primària;

in his early childhood years;

a la secundària obligatòria i postobligatòria;

when he was in elementary school;

i durant el seu pas pel sistema judicial juvenil−

when he was in middle school and then high school;

durant tots aquests cinc capítols,

and when he was in the juvenile justice system --

hi havia moltes coses que la societat hauria pogut fer.

during each of those five chapters,

there were a wide variety of things that society could have done.

De fet, si imaginem

que hi ha cinc diferents formes d'intervenció,

In fact, if we just imagine

com podria intervenir la societat en cadascun d'aquests cinc capítols,

that there are five different modes of intervention,

the way that society could intervene in each of those five chapters,

i poguéssim combinar-los com volguéssim,

hi ha 3.000 −més de 3.000− possibles estratègies

and we could mix and match them any way we want,

there are 3,000 -- more than 3,000 -- possible strategies

que podríem adoptar

perquè els nois com en Will no segueixin aquest camí.

that we could embrace

in order to nudge kids like Will off of the path that they're on.

No sóc aquí amb la solució.

So I'm not standing here today with the solution.

Però, el fet que encara ens quedi molt per aprendre,

But the fact that we still have a lot to learn,

no significa que no sapiguem ja moltes coses.

that doesn't mean that we don't know a lot already.

Sabem per experiències en altres estats

que hi ha una gran varietat de mètodes d'intervenció

We know from experience in other states

that there are a wide variety of modes of intervention

que podríem estar usant a Texas,

i en qualsevol altre estat que no les estigui emprant,

that we could be using in Texas,

per tal de prevenir una conseqüència que tots considerem dolenta.

and in every other state that isn't using them,

in order to prevent a consequence that we all agree is bad.

En mencionaré algunes.

No parlaré avui sobre la reforma del sistema legal.

I'll just mention a few.

I won't talk today about reforming the legal system.

Probablement una qüestió

que és millor reservar per a una sala plena d'advocats i jutges.

That's probably a topic

that is best reserved for a room full of lawyers and judges.

Deixin-me parlar sobre un parell de mètodes d'intervenció

Instead, let me talk about a couple of modes of intervention

que tots podem ajudar a dur a terme,

perquè són formes d'intervenció que es faran realitat

that we can all help accomplish,

quan els legisladors, quan els contribuents i ciutadans,

because they are modes of intervention that will come about

when legislators and policymakers, when taxpayers and citizens,

decideixin que això és el que hem de fer

que és així com hem de gastar-nos els diners.

agree that that's what we ought to be doing

Podríem oferir assistència en la primera infància

and that's how we ought to be spending our money.

We could be providing early childhood care

per a nens desafavorits per motius econòmics o d'altres tipus,

for economically disadvantaged and otherwise troubled kids,

i ho podríem fer de forma gratuïta.

I aconseguir que els nois com en Will no segueixen aquest camí.

and we could be doing it for free.

And we could be nudging kids like Will off of the path that we're on.

Hi ha altres estats que ho fan, però no el nostre.

There are other states that do that, but we don't.

Podríem establir escoles especials,

We could be providing special schools,

a nivell de secundària obligatòria i postobligatòria,

però fins i tot a nivell d'infantil,

at both the high school level and the middle school level,

centrades en nens desafavorits per motius econòmics o d'altres,

but even in K-5,

i particularment els que hagin passat pel sistema judicial juvenil.

that target economically and otherwise disadvantaged kids,

and particularly kids who have had exposure to the juvenile justice system.

Hi ha uns quants estats que ho fan,

Texas, no.

There are a handful of states that do that;

Hi ha una altra cosa que podem fer −bé, n'hi ha moltes−

Texas doesn't.

There's one other thing we can be doing -- well, there are a bunch of other things --

hi ha una cosa que mencionaré ara,

i que serà l'única cosa controvertida que diré avui.

there's one other thing that I'm going to mention,

and this is going to be the only controversial thing that I say today.

Podríem intervenir de forma molt més agressiva

We could be intervening much more aggressively

en llars perillosament disfuncionals,

into dangerously dysfunctional homes,

i treure'n els nens

abans que les seves mares agafin un ganivet per matar-los.

and getting kids out of them

before their moms pick up butcher knives and threaten to kill them.

Si ho fem, necessitarem un lloc per a ells.

If we're going to do that, we need a place to put them.

Fins i tot si fem tot això,

alguns nois se'ns escaparan

Even if we do all of those things,

i acabaran igualment en aquell darrer capítol

some kids are going to fall through the cracks

abans de l'inici de la història:

and they're going to end up in that last chapter

acabaran en mans del sistema judicial juvenil.

before the murder story begins,

I fins i tot si això passa, tampoc és massa tard.

they're going to end up in the juvenile justice system.

And even if that happens, it's not yet too late.

Encara som a temps de fer alguna cosa,

There's still time to nudge them,

si és que volem, en comptes de castigar-los.

if we think about nudging them rather than just punishing them.

Hi ha dos catedràtics al nord-est

−l'un a Yale i l'altre a Maryland−

There are two professors in the Northeast --

que han creat una escola annexa a una presó juvenil.

one at Yale and one at Maryland --

they set up a school that is attached to a juvenile prison.

I els nois són a la presó però van a l'escola

de vuit del matí a quatre de la tarda.

And the kids are in prison, but they go to school

La logística era difícil.

from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon.

Necessitaven trobar professors que volguessin treballar en una presó,

Now, it was logistically difficult.

They had to recruit teachers who wanted to teach inside a prison,

establir una estricta separació

entre els que treballen a l'escola i les autoritats penitenciàries,

they had to establish strict separation

between the people who work at the school and the prison authorities,

i el que era més desafiant,

van haver de crear un nou currículum perquè, sabeu què?

and most dauntingly of all,

they needed to invent a new curriculum because you know what?

La gent no entra i surt de presó per semestres.

People don't come into and out of prison on a semester basis.

(Rialles)

Però van fer totes aquestes coses.

(Laughter)

But they did all those things.

Ara, què tenen en comú totes aquestes coses?

El que tenen en comú és que costen diners.

Now, what do all of these things have in common?

What all of these things have in common is that they cost money.

Alguns dels presents poden ser prou vells

per a recordar aquell paio de l'anunci de filtres d'oli.

Some of the people in the room might be old enough

to remember the guy on the old oil filter commercial.

Deia: "Bé, em pots pagar ara o em pots pagar després."

He used to say, "Well, you can pay me now or you can pay me later."

El que estem fent amb el sistema de la pena de mort

What we're doing in the death penalty system

és que estem pagant després.

is we're paying later.

Però la cosa és que, per cada 15.000 dòlars

But the thing is that for every 15,000 dollars

que gastem intervenint

en les vides de nens desafavorits per motius econòmics o d'altres

that we spend intervening

in the lives of economically and otherwise disadvantaged kids

en els capítols anteriors,

n'estalviem 80.000 després en costos relacionats amb crims.

in those earlier chapters,

we save 80,000 dollars in crime-related costs down the road.

Fins i tot si no esteu d'acord que hi hagi un imperatiu moral per a fer-ho,

Even if you don't agree that there's a moral imperative that we do it,

té sentit, econòmicament parlant.

it just makes economic sense.

Us vull parlar ara sobre la darrera conversa amb en Will.

I want to tell you about the last conversation that I had with Will.

Fou el dia que l'anaven a executar,

It was the day that he was going to be executed,

i estàvem simplement parlant.

No hi havia res més a fer en el seu cas.

and we were just talking.

There was nothing left to do in his case.

I estàvem parlant sobre la seva vida.

I primer em parlà del seu pare, a qui gairebé no conegué, i que ja havia mort,

And we were talking about his life.

And he was talking first about his dad, who he hardly knew, who had died,

i després de la seva mare, a qui sí conegué, i que seguia viva.

and then about his mom, who he did know, who was still alive.

I li vaig dir:

"Conec la història.

And I said to him,

He llegit els informes.

"I know the story.

Sé que ella intentà matar-te.

I've read the records.

Però sempre m'he preguntat

I know that she tried to kill you."

si tu te'n recordes de debò."

I said, "But I've always wondered

whether you really actually remember that."

Li vaig dir: "Jo no recordo res de quan tenia cinc anys.

I said, "I don't remember anything from when I was five years old.

Potser només recordes que algú t'ho explicà."

Maybe you just remember somebody telling you."

I ell em mirà i s'inclinà cap endavant,

i em va dir: "Professor"

And he looked at me and he leaned forward,

−feia 12 anys que ens coneixíem i encara em deia professor.

and he said, "Professor," --

Em va dir: "Professor, no vull ofrendre'l,

he'd known me for 12 years, he still called me Professor.

però si la seva mare agafa un ganivet

He said, "Professor, I don't mean any disrespect by this,

que sembla més gran que vostè

but when your mama picks up a butcher knife

i el persegueix per la casa cridant que el matarà,

that looks bigger than you are,

and chases you through the house screaming she's going to kill you,

i s'ha de tancar al lavabo

fent força contra la porta

and you have to lock yourself in the bathroom

i cridar fins que arribi la policia,"

and lean against the door

and holler for help until the police get there,"

em mirà i em digué:

"això no s'oblida."

he looked at me and he said,

"that's something you don't forget."

Espero que hi hagi una cosa que no oblidin mai:

I hope there's one thing you all won't forget:

entre que han arribat aquí aquest matí

i l'hora del dinar,

In between the time you arrived here this morning

hi haurà quatre homicidis als Estats Units.

and the time we break for lunch,

there are going to be four homicides in the United States.

Dedicarem una quantitat ingent de recursos socials

We're going to devote enormous social resources

a castigar la gent que ha comès aquests crims,

i això és apropiat

to punishing the people who commit those crimes,

perquè hem de castigar qui faci coses dolentes.

and that's appropriate

Però tres d'aquests crims eren evitables.

because we should punish people who do bad things.

Si fem la imatge més gran

But three of those crimes are preventable.

i concentrem la nostra atenció als capítols previs,

If we make the picture bigger

and devote our attention to the earlier chapters,

llavors mai haurem d'escriure la primera frase

then we're never going to write the first sentence

de la història de la pena de mort.

Gràcies.

that begins the death penalty story.

(Aplaudiments)

Thank you.

(Applause)