00:00:16
Well, this is a really
extraordinary honor for me.
00:00:19
I spend most of my time in jails,
in prisons, on death row.
00:00:23
I spend most of my time
in very low-income communities,
00:00:26
in the projects and places where
there's a great deal of hopelessness.
00:00:30
And being here at TED
and seeing the stimulation, hearing it,
00:00:33
has been very, very energizing to me.
00:00:35
And one of the things that's emerged
in my short time here
00:00:38
is that TED has an identity.
00:00:41
And you can actually say things here
that have impacts around the world.
00:00:45
And sometimes when it comes through TED,
it has meaning and power
00:00:49
that it doesn't have when it doesn't.
00:00:52
And I mention that because I think
identity is really important.
00:00:56
And we've had some
fantastic presentations.
00:00:59
And I think what we've learned
is that, if you're a teacher,
00:01:02
your words can be meaningful,
00:01:03
but if you're a compassionate teacher,
they can be especially meaningful.
00:01:07
If you're a doctor,
you can do some good things,
00:01:09
but if you're a caring doctor,
you can do some other things.
00:01:12
So I want to talk about
the power of identity.
00:01:15
And I didn't learn about this
actually practicing law
00:01:18
and doing the work that I do.
00:01:19
I actually learned about this
from my grandmother.
00:01:22
I grew up in a house that was
the traditional African American home
00:01:26
that was dominated by a matriarch,
00:01:27
and that matriarch was my grandmother.
00:01:30
She was tough, she was strong,
she was powerful.
00:01:34
She was the end
of every argument in our family.
00:01:37
(Laughter)
00:01:38
She was the beginning
of a lot of arguments in our family.
00:01:41
(Laughter)
00:01:42
She was the daughter of people
who were actually enslaved.
00:01:45
Her parents were born in slavery
in Virginia in the 1840s.
00:01:47
She was born in the 1880s,
00:01:49
and the experience of slavery
00:01:51
very much shaped
the way she saw the world.
00:01:53
And my grandmother was tough,
but she was also loving.
00:01:56
When I would see her as a little boy,
00:01:58
she'd come up to me
and give me these hugs.
00:02:00
And she'd squeeze me so tight
I could barely breathe,
00:02:02
and then she'd let me go.
00:02:04
And an hour or two later, if I saw her,
00:02:06
she'd come over to me and say,
"Bryan, do you still feel me hugging you?"
00:02:09
If I said, "No," she'd assault me again,
00:02:11
and if I said, "Yes,"
she'd leave me alone.
00:02:13
And she just had this quality
that you always wanted to be near her.
00:02:17
And the only challenge
was that she had 10 children.
00:02:19
My mom was the youngest of her 10 kids.
00:02:21
And sometimes when I would go
and spend time with her,
00:02:24
it would be difficult to get
her time and attention.
00:02:26
My cousins would be
running around everywhere.
00:02:28
And I remember, when I was
about eight or nine years old,
00:02:31
waking up one morning,
going into the living room,
00:02:33
and all of my cousins were running around.
00:02:36
And my grandmother
was sitting across the room,
00:02:38
staring at me.
00:02:39
And at first, I thought
we were playing a game.
00:02:41
And I would look at her, and I'd smile,
but she was very serious.
00:02:45
And after about 15 or 20 minutes of this,
00:02:47
she got up and she came across the room,
00:02:49
and she took me by the hand,
00:02:51
and she said, "Come on, Bryan.
You and I are going to have a talk."
00:02:54
And I remember this
just like it happened yesterday.
00:02:57
I never will forget it.
00:02:59
She took me out back and said,
"Bryan, I'm going to tell you something,
00:03:03
but you don't tell anybody
what I tell you."
00:03:05
I said, "OK, Mama."
00:03:06
She said, "Now, you make sure
you don't do that."
00:03:08
I said, "Sure."
00:03:09
Then she sat me down and she looked at me,
00:03:12
and she said, "I want you to know
I've been watching you."
00:03:16
And she said, "I think you're special."
00:03:19
She said, "I think you can do
anything you want to do."
00:03:24
I will never forget it.
00:03:26
And then she said, "I just need you
to promise me three things, Bryan."
00:03:29
I said, "OK, Mama."
00:03:31
She said, "The first thing
I want you to promise me
00:03:33
is that you'll always love your mom."
00:03:35
She said, "That's my baby girl,
00:03:37
and you have to promise me now
you'll always take care of her."
00:03:40
Well, I adored my mom,
so I said, "Yes, Mama. I'll do that."
00:03:43
Then she said, "The second thing
I want you to promise me
00:03:45
is that you'll always do the right thing,
00:03:47
even when the right thing
is the hard thing."
00:03:50
And I thought about it, and I said,
"Yes, Mama. I'll do that."
00:03:54
Then finally, she said, "The third thing
I want you to promise me
00:03:57
is that you'll never drink alcohol."
00:03:59
(Laughter)
00:04:01
Well, I was nine years old,
so I said, "Yes, Mama. I'll do that."
00:04:04
I grew up in the country
in the rural South,
00:04:06
and I have a brother a year older than me
and a sister a year younger.
00:04:09
When I was about 14 or 15,
00:04:10
one day, my brother came home
and he had this six-pack of beer;
00:04:14
I don't know where he got it.
00:04:15
He grabbed me and my sister,
and we went out in the woods,
00:04:18
and we were just out there
doing the stuff we crazily did,
00:04:21
and he had a sip of this beer
and gave some to my sister
00:04:23
and she had some,
and they offered it to me.
00:04:25
I said, "No, that's OK. Y'all go ahead.
I'm not going to have any."
00:04:28
My brother said, "Come on. We're doing
this today; you always do what we do.
00:04:32
I had some, your sister had some.
Have some beer."
00:04:34
I said, "No, I don't feel right
about that. Y'all go ahead."
00:04:37
And then my brother stared at me and said,
"What's wrong with you? Have some beer."
00:04:41
Then he looked at me real hard and said,
00:04:43
"Oh, I hope you're not still hung up on
that conversation Mama had with you."
00:04:47
(Laughter)
00:04:48
I said, "What are you talking about?"
00:04:50
He said, "Oh, Mama tells
all the grandkids that they're special."
00:04:53
(Laughter)
00:04:55
I was devastated.
00:04:58
(Laughter)
00:05:00
And I'm going to admit something to you.
00:05:02
I'm going to tell you something
I probably shouldn't.
00:05:04
I know this might be broadcast broadly.
00:05:06
But I'm 52 years old,
00:05:08
and I'm going to admit to you
00:05:09
that I've never had a drop of alcohol.
00:05:12
(Applause)
00:05:14
I don't say that because
I think that's virtuous;
00:05:17
I say that because
there is power in identity.
00:05:21
When we create the right kind of identity,
00:05:23
we can say things to the world around us
00:05:25
that they don't actually
believe make sense.
00:05:28
We can get them to do things
that they don't think they can do.
00:05:32
When I thought about my grandmother,
00:05:34
of course she would think
all her grandkids were special.
00:05:36
My grandfather was in prison
during prohibition.
00:05:39
My male uncles died
of alcohol-related diseases.
00:05:41
And these were the things
she thought we needed to commit to.
00:05:44
Well, I've been trying to say something
about our criminal justice system.
00:05:48
This country is very different today
than it was 40 years ago.
00:05:51
In 1972, there were 300,000 people
in jails and prisons.
00:05:55
Today, there are 2.3 million.
00:05:59
The United States now has
the highest rate of incarceration
00:06:02
in the world.
00:06:03
We have seven million people
on probation and parole.
00:06:06
And mass incarceration, in my judgment,
00:06:09
has fundamentally changed our world.
00:06:13
In poor communities,
in communities of color,
00:06:15
there is this despair,
00:06:17
there is this hopelessness
00:06:18
that is being shaped by these outcomes.
00:06:21
One out of three Black men
between the ages of 18 and 30
00:06:24
is in jail, in prison,
on probation or parole.
00:06:28
In urban communities
across this country --
00:06:30
Los Angeles, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Washington --
00:06:33
50 to 60 percent of all young men of color
00:06:36
are in jail or prison
00:06:37
or on probation or parole.
00:06:39
Our system isn't just
being shaped in these ways
00:06:41
that seem to be distorting around race,
00:06:43
they're also distorted by poverty.
00:06:45
We have a system of justice
in this country
00:06:48
that treats you much better
if you're rich and guilty
00:06:51
than if you're poor and innocent.
00:06:53
Wealth, not culpability, shapes outcomes.
00:06:57
And yet, we seem to be very comfortable.
00:07:01
The politics of fear and anger
have made us believe
00:07:04
that these are problems
that are not our problems.
00:07:07
We've been disconnected.
00:07:10
It's interesting to me.
00:07:11
We're looking at some very interesting
developments in our work.
00:07:14
My state of Alabama,
like a number of states,
00:07:16
actually permanently disenfranchises you
if you have a criminal conviction.
00:07:20
Right now in Alabama,
00:07:21
34 percent of the Black male population
has permanently lost the right to vote.
00:07:26
We're actually projecting
that in another 10 years,
00:07:29
the level of disenfranchisement
will be as high as it's been
00:07:31
since prior to the passage
of the Voting Rights Act.
00:07:34
And there is this stunning silence.
00:07:38
I represent children.
00:07:40
A lot of my clients are very young.
00:07:41
The United States
is the only country in the world
00:07:44
where we sentence 13-year-old children
00:07:46
to die in prison.
00:07:47
We have life imprisonment without parole
for kids in this country.
00:07:51
And we're actually doing some litigation.
00:07:53
The only country in the world.
00:07:55
I represent people on death row.
00:07:56
It's interesting, this question
of the death penalty.
00:07:59
In many ways, we've been taught to think
that the real question is:
00:08:03
Do people deserve to die
for the crimes they've committed?
00:08:05
And that's a very sensible question.
00:08:08
But there's another way of thinking
about where we are in our identity.
00:08:12
The other way of thinking about it is not:
00:08:14
Do people deserve to die
for the crimes they commit?,
00:08:16
but: Do we deserve to kill?
00:08:19
I mean, it's fascinating.
00:08:20
Death penalty in America
is defined by error.
00:08:22
For every nine people
who have been executed,
00:08:24
we've actually identified
one innocent person
00:08:27
who's been exonerated
and released from death row.
00:08:30
A kind of astonishing error rate --
00:08:33
one out of nine people, innocent.
00:08:36
I mean, it's fascinating.
00:08:38
In aviation, we would never
let people fly on airplanes
00:08:40
if, for every nine planes that took off,
00:08:42
one would crash.
00:08:43
(Laughter)
00:08:44
But somehow, we can insulate ourselves
from this problem.
00:08:48
It's not our problem.
00:08:49
It's not our burden.
00:08:51
It's not our struggle.
00:08:53
I talk a lot about these issues.
00:08:55
I talk about race
00:08:57
and this question
of whether we deserve to kill.
00:08:59
And it's interesting,
00:09:00
when I teach my students
about African American history,
00:09:03
I tell them about slavery.
00:09:04
I tell them about terrorism,
00:09:06
the era that began
at the end of reconstruction
00:09:08
that went on to World War II.
00:09:09
We don't really know very much about it.
00:09:11
But for African Americans in this country,
00:09:13
that was an era defined by terror.
00:09:16
In many communities,
people had to worry about being lynched.
00:09:19
They had to worry about being bombed.
00:09:20
It was the threat of terror
that shaped their lives.
00:09:23
And these older people
come up to me now and say,
00:09:25
"Mr. Stevenson, you give talks,
you make speeches,
00:09:28
you tell people to stop saying
we're dealing with terrorism
00:09:31
for the first time
in our nation's history after 9/11."
00:09:33
They tell me to say, "No, tell
them that we grew up with that."
00:09:37
And that era of terrorism, of course,
was followed by segregation
00:09:41
and decades of racial subordination
00:09:43
and apartheid.
00:09:45
And yet, we have in this country
00:09:47
this dynamic where we really don't like
to talk about our problems.
00:09:51
We don't like to talk about our history.
00:09:53
And because of that,
we really haven't understood
00:09:56
what it's meant to do the things
we've done historically.
00:10:00
We're constantly running into each other.
00:10:02
We're constantly creating
tensions and conflicts.
00:10:04
We have a hard time talking about race,
00:10:07
and I believe it's because we are
unwilling to commit ourselves
00:10:10
to a process of truth and reconciliation.
00:10:12
In South Africa,
00:10:14
people understood
that we couldn't overcome apartheid
00:10:17
without a commitment
to truth and reconciliation.
00:10:19
In Rwanda, even after the genocide,
there was this commitment.
00:10:22
But in this country, we haven't done that.
00:10:24
I was giving some lectures in Germany
about the death penalty.
00:10:27
It was fascinating,
00:10:29
because one of the scholars
stood up after the presentation
00:10:32
and said, "Well, you know,
it's deeply troubling
00:10:34
to hear what you're talking about."
00:10:36
He said, "We don't have
the death penalty in Germany,
00:10:38
and of course, we can never
have the death penalty in Germany."
00:10:42
And the room got very quiet,
00:10:43
and this woman said,
00:10:45
"There's no way, with our history,
00:10:49
we could ever engage
in the systematic killing of human beings.
00:10:53
It would be unconscionable for us
00:10:57
to, in an intentional and deliberate way,
00:10:59
set about executing people."
00:11:02
And I thought about that.
00:11:04
What would it feel like
to be living in a world
00:11:07
where the nation-state of Germany
was executing people,
00:11:10
especially if they were
disproportionately Jewish?
00:11:13
I couldn't bear it.
00:11:14
It would be unconscionable.
00:11:16
And yet, in this country,
00:11:19
in the states of the Old South,
00:11:21
we execute people --
00:11:23
where you're 11 times more likely
to get the death penalty
00:11:25
if the victim is white
than if the victim is Black,
00:11:28
22 times more likely to get it
00:11:29
if the defendant is Black
and the victim is white --
00:11:32
in the very states where there are,
buried in the ground,
00:11:34
the bodies of people who were lynched.
00:11:36
And yet, there is this disconnect.
00:11:39
Well, I believe
that our identity is at risk,
00:11:43
that when we actually don't care
about these difficult things,
00:11:49
the positive and wonderful things
are nonetheless implicated.
00:11:53
We love innovation.
00:11:55
We love technology. We love creativity.
00:11:58
We love entertainment.
00:12:01
But ultimately,
00:12:03
those realities are shadowed by suffering,
00:12:07
abuse, degradation,
00:12:10
marginalization.
00:12:12
And for me, it becomes necessary
to integrate the two,
00:12:16
because ultimately, we are talking about
a need to be more hopeful,
00:12:20
more committed, more dedicated
00:12:22
to the basic challenges
of living in a complex world.
00:12:26
And for me, that means
00:12:29
spending time thinking and talking
about the poor, the disadvantaged,
00:12:33
those who will never get to TED,
00:12:36
but thinking about them in a way
that is integrated in our own lives.
00:12:40
You know, ultimately, we all
have to believe things we haven't seen.
00:12:43
We do.
00:12:45
As rational as we are,
as committed to intellect as we are,
00:12:47
innovation, creativity, development
00:12:50
comes not from the ideas
in our mind alone.
00:12:54
They come from the ideas in our mind
00:12:56
that are also fueled
by some conviction in our heart.
00:13:00
And it's that mind-heart connection
that I believe compels us
00:13:05
to not just be attentive
to all the bright and dazzly things,
00:13:10
but also the dark and difficult things.
00:13:13
Václav Havel, the great Czech leader,
talked about this.
00:13:15
He said, "When we were in Eastern Europe
and dealing with oppression,
00:13:19
we wanted all kinds of things.
00:13:20
But mostly what we needed was hope,
00:13:22
an orientation of the spirit,
00:13:24
a willingness to sometimes
be in hopeless places
00:13:27
and be a witness."
00:13:28
Well, that orientation of the spirit
is very much at the core of what I believe
00:13:34
even TED communities
have to be engaged in.
00:13:38
There is no disconnect
around technology and design
00:13:42
that will allow us to be fully human
00:13:45
until we pay attention to suffering,
00:13:47
to poverty, to exclusion,
to unfairness, to injustice.
00:13:51
Now, I will warn you
00:13:52
that this kind of identity
is a much more challenging identity
00:13:57
than ones that don't
pay attention to this.
00:14:00
It will get to you.
00:14:01
I had the great privilege,
when I was a young lawyer,
00:14:04
of meeting Rosa Parks.
00:14:05
And Ms. Parks used to come back
to Montgomery every now and then,
00:14:08
and she would get together
with two of her dearest friends,
00:14:11
these older women,
00:14:12
Johnnie Carr, who was the organizer
of the Montgomery bus boycott --
00:14:16
amazing African American woman --
00:14:17
and Virginia Durr, a white woman,
00:14:19
whose husband, Clifford Durr,
represented Dr. King.
00:14:22
And these women
would get together and just talk.
00:14:24
And every now and then
Ms. Carr would call me,
00:14:26
and she'd say, "Bryan,
Ms. Parks is coming to town.
00:14:29
We're going to get together and talk.
Do you want to come over and listen?"
00:14:32
And I'd say, "Yes, ma'am, I do."
00:14:34
She'd say, "What are you going to do
when you get here?"
00:14:37
I said, "I'm going to listen."
00:14:38
And I'd go over there
and I would, I'd just listen.
00:14:40
It would be so energizing
and so empowering.
00:14:43
And one time I was over there
listening to these women talk,
00:14:45
and after a couple of hours,
Ms. Parks turned to me and said,
00:14:48
"Bryan, tell me what
the Equal Justice Initiative is.
00:14:51
Tell me what you're trying to do."
00:14:52
And I began giving her my rap.
00:14:54
"We're trying to challenge injustice.
00:14:56
We're trying to help people
who have been wrongly convicted.
00:14:59
We're trying to confront
bias and discrimination
00:15:01
in the administration of criminal justice.
00:15:03
We're trying to end life without parole
sentences for children.
00:15:06
We're trying to do something
about the death penalty.
00:15:08
We're trying to reduce
the prison population.
00:15:11
We're trying to end mass incarceration."
00:15:12
I gave her my whole rap,
and when I finished she looked at me
00:15:15
and she said, "Mmm mmm mmm.
00:15:17
That's going to make
you tired, tired, tired."
00:15:19
(Laughter)
00:15:20
And that's when Ms. Carr leaned forward,
she put her finger in my face,
00:15:24
she said, "That's why you've got to be
brave, brave, brave."
00:15:29
And I actually believe
that the TED community
00:15:31
needs to be more courageous.
00:15:34
We need to find ways
to embrace these challenges,
00:15:38
these problems, the suffering.
00:15:40
Because ultimately, our humanity
depends on everyone's humanity.
00:15:44
I've learned very simple things
doing the work that I do.
00:15:47
It's just taught me very simple things.
00:15:49
I've come to understand and to believe
00:15:52
that each of us is more
than the worst thing we've ever done.
00:15:55
I believe that
for every person on the planet.
00:15:59
I think if somebody tells a lie,
they're not just a liar.
00:16:02
I think if somebody takes something
that doesn't belong to them,
00:16:05
they're not just a thief.
00:16:06
I think even if you kill someone,
you're not just a killer.
00:16:09
And because of that,
there's this basic human dignity
00:16:12
that must be respected by law.
00:16:14
I also believe
00:16:16
that in many parts of this country,
00:16:18
and certainly in many parts of this globe,
00:16:21
that the opposite of poverty
is not wealth.
00:16:25
I don't believe that.
00:16:26
I actually think, in too many places,
00:16:29
the opposite of poverty is justice.
00:16:32
And finally, I believe
00:16:35
that, despite the fact that it is
so dramatic and so beautiful
00:16:38
and so inspiring and so stimulating,
00:16:41
we will ultimately not be judged
by our technology,
00:16:45
we won't be judged by our design,
00:16:47
we won't be judged
by our intellect and reason.
00:16:50
Ultimately, you judge
the character of a society
00:16:53
not by how they treat their rich
and the powerful and the privileged,
00:16:57
but by how they treat the poor,
00:16:58
the condemned,
00:17:00
the incarcerated.
00:17:01
Because it's in that nexus
00:17:03
that we actually begin to understand
truly profound things
00:17:06
about who we are.
00:17:09
I sometimes get out of balance.
00:17:11
I'll end with this story.
00:17:12
I sometimes push too hard.
00:17:13
I do get tired, as we all do.
00:17:16
Sometimes those ideas
get ahead of our thinking
00:17:19
in ways that are important.
00:17:21
And I've been representing these kids
00:17:23
who have been sentenced
to these very harsh sentences.
00:17:25
And I go to the jail and I see
my client, who's 13 and 14,
00:17:28
and he's been certified
to stand trial as an adult.
00:17:30
I start thinking, well,
how did that happen?
00:17:33
How can a judge turn you
into something that you're not?
00:17:36
And the judge has certified him
as an adult, but I see this kid.
00:17:39
And I was up too late one night
and I started thinking,
00:17:42
well, if the judge can turn you
into something you're not,
00:17:45
the judge must have magic power.
00:17:46
Yeah, Bryan, the judge
has some magic power.
00:17:48
You should ask for some of that.
00:17:50
And because I was up too late
and wasn't thinking real straight,
00:17:53
I started working on a motion.
00:17:55
I had a client who was 14 years old,
a young, poor Black kid.
00:17:58
And I started working on this motion,
and the head of the motion was:
00:18:01
"Motion to try my poor,
14-year-old Black male client
00:18:04
like a privileged, white,
75-year-old corporate executive."
00:18:07
(Laughter)
00:18:08
(Applause and cheers)
00:18:13
And I put in my motion
that there was prosecutorial misconduct
00:18:16
and police misconduct
and judicial misconduct.
00:18:18
There was a crazy line in there
00:18:19
about how there's no conduct
in this county, it's all misconduct.
00:18:22
And the next morning,
I woke up and I thought,
00:18:25
now, did I dream that crazy motion,
or did I actually write it?
00:18:28
And to my horror,
not only had I written it,
00:18:30
but I had sent it to court.
00:18:31
(Applause)
00:18:34
A couple months went by,
00:18:36
and I just had forgotten all about it.
00:18:39
And I finally decided,
00:18:41
"Gosh, I've got to go to the court
and do this crazy case."
00:18:43
And I got in my car, and I was feeling
really overwhelmed -- overwhelmed.
00:18:47
And I got in my car
and went to this courthouse.
00:18:49
And I was thinking, this is going
to be so difficult, so painful.
00:18:52
And I finally got out of the car
and started walking up to the courthouse.
00:18:56
And as I was walking up the steps,
00:18:57
there was an older Black man
who was the janitor in this courthouse.
00:19:01
When this man saw me, he came over
and said, "Who are you?"
00:19:04
I said, "I'm a lawyer." He said,
"You're a lawyer?" I said, "Yes, sir."
00:19:07
And this man came over to me,
and he hugged me.
00:19:10
And he whispered in my ear.
00:19:12
He said, "I'm so proud of you."
00:19:15
And I have to tell you, it was energizing.
00:19:18
It connected deeply with something in me
00:19:21
about identity,
00:19:22
about the capacity of every person
to contribute to community,
00:19:26
to a perspective that is hopeful.
00:19:28
Well, I went into the courtroom.
00:19:30
And as soon as I walked in,
the judge saw me coming.
00:19:32
He said, "Mr. Stevenson,
did you write this crazy motion?"
00:19:35
I said, "Yes, sir. I did."
And we started arguing.
00:19:38
And people started coming in,
00:19:39
just outraged
I'd written these crazy things.
00:19:41
And police officers were coming in
00:19:43
and assistant prosecutors
and clerk workers.
00:19:45
Before I knew it,
the courtroom was filled with people
00:19:48
angry that we were talking about race,
00:19:49
that we were talking about poverty,
talking about inequality.
00:19:53
And out of the corner of my eye, I could
see this janitor pacing back and forth.
00:19:57
He kept looking through the window
and could hear all the holler.
00:20:00
And finally, this older Black man
with a very worried look on his face
00:20:03
came into the courtroom and sat behind me,
almost at counsel table.
00:20:07
Ten minutes later,
the judge said we'd take a break.
00:20:10
During the break, there was
a deputy sheriff who was offended
00:20:13
that the janitor had come into court.
00:20:15
The deputy jumped up
and ran over to this older Black man.
00:20:17
He said, "Jimmy, what are you doing
in this courtroom?"
00:20:20
And this older Black man stood up
and looked at that deputy
00:20:23
and he looked at me,
00:20:24
and he said, "I came into this courtroom
to tell this young man,
00:20:29
'Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.'"
00:20:32
I've come to TED
00:20:33
because I believe
that many of you understand
00:20:36
that the moral arc
of the universe is long,
00:20:38
but it bends toward justice;
00:20:40
that we cannot be
full, evolved human beings
00:20:43
until we care about human rights
and basic dignity;
00:20:45
that all of our survival
is tied to the survival of everyone;
00:20:49
that our visions of technology and design
00:20:52
and entertainment and creativity
00:20:54
have to be married with visions
of humanity, compassion and justice.
00:20:59
And more than anything,
for those of you who share that,
00:21:02
I've simply come to tell you
00:21:04
to keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.
00:21:07
Thank you very much.
00:21:08
(Applause and cheers)
00:21:28
Chris Anderson: Brian,
so you heard and saw
00:21:31
an obvious desire
by this audience, this community,
00:21:34
to help you on your way
and to do something on this issue.
00:21:37
Other than writing a check,
00:21:40
what could we do?
00:21:42
BS: Well, there are
opportunities all around us.
00:21:44
If you live in the state
of California, for example,
00:21:47
there's a referendum coming up this spring
00:21:49
where there's going to be an effort
to redirect some of the money we spend
00:21:53
on the politics of punishment.
00:21:54
For example, here in California,
00:21:56
we're going to spend one billion dollars
00:21:58
on the death penalty
in the next five years --
00:22:00
one billion dollars.
00:22:02
And yet, 46 percent of all homicide cases
don't result in arrest,
00:22:06
56 percent of all rape cases don't result.
00:22:09
So there's an opportunity to change that.
00:22:11
And this referendum would propose
00:22:12
having those dollars go to
law enforcement and safety.
00:22:16
And I think that opportunity
exists all around us.
00:22:18
CA: There's been this huge decline
in crime in America
00:22:22
over the last three decades.
00:22:23
And part of the narrative of that
00:22:25
is sometimes that it's about increased
incarceration rates.
00:22:29
What would you say to someone
who believed that?
00:22:31
BS: Well, actually, the violent crime rate
has remained relatively stable.
00:22:35
The great increase
in mass incarceration in this country
00:22:37
wasn't really in violent crime categories.
00:22:40
It was this misguided war on drugs.
00:22:41
That's where the dramatic
increases have come
00:22:43
in our prison population.
00:22:45
(Applause)
00:22:46
And we got carried away
with the rhetoric of punishment.
00:22:49
And so we have "Three Strikes" laws
00:22:51
that put people in prison forever
00:22:53
for stealing a bicycle,
for low-level property crimes,
00:22:56
rather than making them
give those resources back
00:22:58
to the people who they victimized.
00:23:00
I believe we need to do more
00:23:01
to help people
who are victimized by crime,
00:23:03
not do less.
00:23:05
And I think our current
punishment philosophy
00:23:07
does nothing for no one.
00:23:08
And I think that's the orientation
that we have to change.
00:23:11
(Applause)
00:23:13
CA: Bryan, you've struck
a massive chord here.
00:23:16
You're an inspiring person.
00:23:17
Thank you so much
for coming to TED. Thank you.
00:23:19
(Applause and cheers)
00:23:29
BS: Thank you. Thank you.
00:23:31
(Applause and cheers)
