Bianca Tylek: The multibillion-dollar US prison industry -- and how to dismantle it | TED Fellows

譯者: Yu-Chi Cheng 審譯者: Helen Chang

[SHAPE YOUR FUTURE]

[塑造你的未來]

Not too long ago, a mother told me,

不久之前，一個媽媽告訴我

“I can talk to my son in the dark.”

「我能在黑暗中跟我兒子通電話。」

[Operator voice: The prepaid collect call from an inmate at --]

[接線生: 犯人打來的 受話方付費電話]

Her son was in prison

她的兒子曾進監獄，

and paying for phone calls often meant she couldn't afford her light bill.

付電話費時常導致 她無法負擔電費帳單。

See, families can pay as much as a dollar a minute

看，有些家庭付費高達每分鐘一美元

to speak to a loved one in prison or jail.

只為和監獄裡的親人通電話。

These egregious rates

這些惡劣的收費

have created a 1.2-billion-dollar prison telecom industry

創造了十二億元的監獄電信產業，

and with visit costs

探訪犯人的費用

forced one in three families with an incarcerated loved one into debt.

也促使三分之一的家庭負債。

Eighty-seven percent of those carrying this financial burden are women.

87% 背債的是女人。

And as a result of decades of racist policies and policing,

也因為數十年的種族政策和治安，

they're disproportionately Black and brown.

不成比例的是黑人和有色人種。

Prison telecom corporations claim that these high rates are necessary

監獄電信業者聲稱高的收費

to pay site commissions to prisons and jails

是為了要付監獄的傭金

and provide security and surveillance.

來提供安全和管理。

While the government's hands are far from clean,

政府的手不乾淨，

these corporate claims are simply not supported by reality.

這些公司的主張並非現實。

Consider this.

思考這個。

In Connecticut,

在康涅狄格州，

where families are charged as much as 32.5 cents per minute

打一分鐘的電話要價三十二點五美分，

and the state takes a 68 percent commission,

州政府拿走 68% 的佣金，

the telecom provider takes home 10 cents per minute.

電信業者每分鐘賺十美分。

Now, in Illinois, where the state takes no commission,

伊利諾州的州政府不收佣金，

families pay the same corporation nine tenths of a cent per minute.

家庭每分鐘付 0.1 美分給同一家電信公司。

In other words, even after the government takes its cut,

換句話說，就算政府收了佣金，

the corporation makes 10 times more in Connecticut than it does in Illinois

在康涅狄格州的電信業 比伊利諾州的多賺十倍以上，

for providing the same service.

縱使提供的服務相同。

And prisons in Illinois are no less secure than those in Connecticut.

伊利諾州的監獄的安全程度 也與康涅狄格州的差不了多少。

These are simply corporate arguments

這些都只是公司

used to justify predatory business practices

用來合法化掠奪性商業行為的論點，

and distract from the very simple truth.

偏離了最簡單的事實。

Corporations in the prison industry

在監獄產業的公司

have a financial interest in seeing more people behind bars

越多人被監禁越久 獲得的經濟利益就越高。

and for longer periods of time.

In reality, providing families and their incarcerated loved ones

在現實中，提供家庭與監獄犯

with regular communication

常規的聯絡管道

is not just the right thing to do.

不只是一件好事，

It's also the most fiscally responsible and safe thing to do.

也是最負財務責任和最安全的方式。

If you think taxpayers shouldn't be on the hook

如果你覺得納稅人不應該

for phone calls for people who have committed crimes,

為犯人是否能打電話負責，

remember this.

記得這個。

The most expensive rates are charged in jails

在監獄裡最貴的費用

where the majority of people are awaiting trial and not yet convicted.

是當大部分的人還在等待判刑， 還沒被審判的時候。

Prison wages range from nothing to a few cents an hour,

監獄薪水從甚麼都沒有 到一小時幾美分，

so it's hard working, taxpaying families that are paying for calls.

因此輪到那些勤奮的納稅人 付監獄犯的電話費。

And maintaining strong community ties is one of the most important factors

維持緊密的社區連結也是

in a person's successful reentry upon release.

對獄犯在釋放後重新進入社會 決定性的一環。

It improves housing, employment and social outcomes,

它也改善住房、就業以及社會成果，

making it less likely that people need government support

讓人們不再需要過度仰賴政府

or end up back in prison.

或回到監獄。

The bottom line is that prison telecom corporations,

最重要的是監獄電信業者

and the thousands of others in the prison industry,

和在監獄產業許許多多的人們，

prioritize profit as they promote the caging of people

把利潤放在前面， 倡議把人們送進監獄

to exploit them and their families.

來剝削他們和他們的家庭。

See, prison telecom is just one sector in the 80-billion-dollar prison industry.

看，監獄電信只不過是 八百億產業的一小部分而已。

When I say prison industry,

當我說監獄產業，

I'm talking about food service corporations

我指的是那些提供腐敗的肉

that serve rotten meat to people behind bars,

給在鐵欄杆後人們的食品公司，

health care providers that deny incarcerated people care,

那些拒絕提供健保給犯人的健保業者，

and architecture firms that design windowless six-by-nine-foot cells

和設計沒有窗戶的 6*9英尺單人禁閉房間的建築公司，

for solitary confinement,

where people spend weeks, months and even years.

人們在那裡度過幾周、 幾月，甚至幾年。

We invest in these corporations

我們透過退休基金，

through our retirement funds, public pensions,

公共養老金， 大學捐款和私人基金，

university endowments and private foundations,

往這些公司投資。

and we celebrate their executives

我們還在最喜歡的文化機構的董事會上

on the boards of our favorite cultural institutions.

慶祝他們的高管。

And in all fairness, it's not just the private sector.

公平地說，其實不只有私人企業獲利。

It's also government agencies that charge excessive fines and fees

政府單位也收額外的罰金和費用，

and abuse free or grossly underpaid prison labor

一起壓榨免費的或報酬極低的監獄勞工

to manufacture license plates,

來製造汽車牌照，

staff DMV call centers, fight wildfires

為監理所接電話，滅山林大火，

and, yes, even pick cotton.

對了，還有採棉花。

So this begs the question,

這也衍生出了一個疑問，

how can we address our crisis of mass incarceration

我們要如何應對這個大型監禁危機，

if an entire segment of our economy is fighting to put more people behind bars

如果我們的整個經濟體系 正在努力的把更多的人關進牢中

and for longer?

還關得更久？

We can't.

我們不能這樣。

But we can demand and create change.

但我們可以要求和做出改變。

The key is running coordinated policy and corporate campaigns.

重點就是要發表 一致的政策和公司宣傳。

That's the playbook I put to use when I founded Worth Rises,

那是我在創辦 Worth Rises

a nonprofit prison abolition organization

這個非營利廢除監獄組織時 所用的劇本，

dedicated to dismantling the prison industry.

致力於分解監獄產業。

Let's go back to prison telecom for a quick example.

讓我們看回去監獄電信產業這個例子。

In 2018, we led a campaign in New York City

在 2018 年， 我們在紐約市開始了一個活動，

that passed the first piece of legislation to make jail phone calls free,

成功地通過第一條立法 讓監獄電話變成免費，

saving families with incarcerated loved ones,

為那些家中有犯人的家庭

nearly 10 million dollars a year

近乎每年省一千萬美元，

and increasing communication by roughly 40 percent overnight.

也一夕之間增加了 大約 40% 的聯絡量。

In 2019,

在 2019 年，

we helped local advocates in San Francisco introduce a similar policy

我們幫助舊金山本土的支持者 帶入一個類似的政策，

and launched several statewide campaigns to do the same.

也發起了幾個全州的活動。

That same year,

同一年，

we fought the consolidation of two major market players

在美國聯邦通訊委員會面前，

in front of the Federal Communications Commission and won.

我們反對兩大市場主體的合併也贏了。

We blocked 150-million-dollar investment by a public pension

我們阻止一家擁有監獄電信公司的 私募股權公司的

with a private equity firm that owned a prison telecom corporation.

公共養老金投資 1.5 億美元。

And we removed one of the largest investors in the field

我們從一個主要的博物館董事會中

from a major museum board.

移除一個該領域最大的投資者。

In just two years,

在兩年之內，

we toxified the industry and threatened its business model,

我們使這個行業帶毒， 威脅到它的商業模式，

causing an investor sell-off.

造成投資者變賣。

But more importantly,

但更重要的，

that means millions of families connected

這代表從監獄不再取得利潤，

and billions of dollars protected

幾百萬的家庭產生連結，

from the predatory hands of prison profiteers.

還有保護住的十億美元。

It means fewer dollars invested in and promoting human caging and control.

這代表花更少的錢投資於促進坐牢。

And it means at least one mother won't have to sit in the dark

這也代表至少一個媽媽 不用再坐在暗處

to talk to her son again.

才能夠和兒子通電話。

[Operator: You may start the conversation now.]

[接線生：你可以開始通話了]

Thank you.

謝謝。