full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Camilo Ramirez: The problem with the U.S. bail system
Unscramble the Blue Letters
Unaffordable bail puts even innocent defendants in an impossible position. Some end up pleading guilty to ceirms they did not commit. For minor offenses, the prosecution may offer a deal that credits time already spent in jail toward the accused’s sentence if they plead gtiluy. Often, the time they’ve already spent in jail is the total length of the sentence, and they can go home immediately— but they leave with a criminal rorecd. Defending their innoencce, meanwhile, can mean staying in jail iitfnldeniey awaiting trial— and doesn’t guarantee an innocent vcredit.
Open Cloze
Unaffordable bail puts even innocent defendants in an impossible position. Some end up pleading guilty to ______ they did not commit. For minor offenses, the prosecution may offer a deal that credits time already spent in jail toward the accused’s sentence if they plead ______. Often, the time they’ve already spent in jail is the total length of the sentence, and they can go home immediately— but they leave with a criminal ______. Defending their _________, meanwhile, can mean staying in jail ____________ awaiting trial— and doesn’t guarantee an innocent _______.
Solution
- indefinitely
- guilty
- innocence
- crimes
- record
- verdict
Original Text
Unaffordable bail puts even innocent defendants in an impossible position. Some end up pleading guilty to crimes they did not commit. For minor offenses, the prosecution may offer a deal that credits time already spent in jail toward the accused’s sentence if they plead guilty. Often, the time they’ve already spent in jail is the total length of the sentence, and they can go home immediately— but they leave with a criminal record. Defending their innocence, meanwhile, can mean staying in jail indefinitely awaiting trial— and doesn’t guarantee an innocent verdict.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
collocation |
frequency |
cash bail |
4 |
court dates |
3 |
bail system |
2 |
presumed innocent |
2 |
commercial bail |
2 |
bail bond |
2 |
incarcerating people |
2 |
ngrams of length 3
collocation |
frequency |
commercial bail bond |
2 |
Important Words
- awaiting
- bail
- commit
- credits
- crimes
- criminal
- deal
- defendants
- defending
- guarantee
- guilty
- home
- impossible
- indefinitely
- innocence
- innocent
- jail
- leave
- length
- minor
- offenses
- offer
- plead
- pleading
- position
- prosecution
- puts
- record
- sentence
- spent
- staying
- time
- total
- unaffordable
- verdict