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

  1. indefinitely
  2. guilty
  3. innocence
  4. crimes
  5. record
  6. 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

  1. awaiting
  2. bail
  3. commit
  4. credits
  5. crimes
  6. criminal
  7. deal
  8. defendants
  9. defending
  10. guarantee
  11. guilty
  12. home
  13. impossible
  14. indefinitely
  15. innocence
  16. innocent
  17. jail
  18. leave
  19. length
  20. minor
  21. offenses
  22. offer
  23. plead
  24. pleading
  25. position
  26. prosecution
  27. puts
  28. record
  29. sentence
  30. spent
  31. staying
  32. time
  33. total
  34. unaffordable
  35. verdict