"Judge, I want to tell you something. I want to tell you something. I been watching you and you're not two-faced. You treat everybody the same."
“法官,我想对你说, 我想让你知道, 我一直在观察你。 你不是那种两面派, 你平等地对待每一个人。”
That was said to me by a transgender prostitute who before I had gotten on the bench had fired her public defender, insulted the court officer and yelled at the person sitting next to her, "I don't know what you're looking at. I look better than the girl you're with."
这是一位变性的性工作者对我说的话。 这位女性在我出任她的法官前 已经解雇了她的公设辩护人, 侮辱了法庭工作人员, 并且对她邻座的人大吼: “我不知道你在看什么, 我比你的女朋友要好看得多。”
(Laughter)
(笑声)
She said this to me after I said her male name low enough so that it could be picked up by the record, but I said her female name loud enough so that she could walk down the aisle towards counselor's table with dignity. This is procedural justice, also known as procedural fairness, at its best.
她之所以对我说上面的话, 是因为我在念她的 男性名字时尽量小声, 保证能被录音设备记录下来, 但是我在念她的女性名字时足够响亮, 让她能够有尊严地 从走廊走到她的辩护席。 这就是程序正义,也叫做程序公平, 在最理想的情况下。
You see, I am the daughter of an African-American garbageman who was born in Harlem and spent his summers in the segregated South.
我是一个非裔美国清洁工的女儿, 我的父亲出生在哈勒姆区, 他的大部分时光都在 种族观念严重的南方度过。
Soy la hija de una peluquera dominicana.
Soy la hija de una peluquera dominicana.
I do that to make sure you're still paying attention.
这么说是让大家保持注意力。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
I'm the daughter of a Dominican beautician who came to this country for a better life for her unborn children. My parents taught me, you treat everyone you meet with dignity and respect, no matter how they look, no matter how they dress, no matter how they spoke. You see, the principles of fairness were taught to me at an early age, and unbeknownst to me, it would be the most important lesson that I carried with me to the Newark Municipal Court bench. And because I was dragged off the playground at the early age of 10 to translate for family members as they began to migrate to the United States, I understand how daunting it can be for a person, a novice, to navigate any government system.
我是一个来自 多美尼加的美容师的女儿。 我的母亲为了给她未出生的孩子 一个更好的生活,来到这个国家。 我的父母教育我要尊重 每一个我遇到的人。 不管他们的外貌怎样, 他们的穿着怎样, 也不管他们说着什么样的语言。 很明显,他们将公平的原则, 在我很小的时候就灌输给了我。 当时的我没有意识到, 这会是我人生中最重要的一课, 并且伴随着我,来到纽瓦克市法院。 在十岁的时候, 我就经常牺牲玩耍的时间 帮我那些即将移民到美国 的亲戚们做翻译。 我深刻地体会到: 对于一个初来乍到的移民, 要和政府系统打交道 是多么的恐怖。
Every day across America and around the globe, people encounter our courts, and it is a place that is foreign, intimidating and often hostile towards them. They are confused about the nature of their charges, annoyed about their encounters with the police and facing consequences that might impact their relationships, their finances and even their liberty.
每天,在整个美国,甚至整个世界, 都有很多人要与法院打交道。 这是一个让人感到陌生和恐惧的地方, 并且经常让人们感受到敌视。 他们对诉讼的程序感到费解, 对与警察打交道感到愤怒, 并且面对着足以影响 他们的关系,经济状况, 甚至自由的判决。
Let me paint a picture for you of what it's like for the average person who encounters our courts. First, they're annoyed as they're probed going through court security. They finally get through court security, they walk around the building, they ask different people the same question and get different answers. When they finally get to where they're supposed to be, it gets really bad when they encounter the courts.
让我给你描绘一个 普通人来到法庭的场景。 首先,他们需要通过法院的安检, 这让他们感到心烦。 过了安检他们会走进 这个陌生的地方, 他们问不同的人同样的问题 却得到了不同的答案。 当他们最终找到自己要去的地方, 当他们走进法庭, 更糟的地方才刚刚开始。
What would you think if I told you that you could improve people's court experience, increase their compliance with the law and court orders, all the while increasing the public's trust in the justice system with a simple idea? Well, that simple idea is procedural justice and it's a concept that says that if people perceive they are treated fairly and with dignity and respect, they'll obey the law. Well, that's what Yale professor Tom Tyler found when he began to study as far back in the '70s why people obey the law. He found that if people see the justice system as a legitimate authority to impose rules and regulations, they would follow them. His research concluded that people would be satisfied with the judge's rulings, even when the judge ruled against them, if they perceived that they were treated fairly and with dignity and respect. And that perception of fairness begins with what? Begins with how judges speak to court participants.
如果我告诉你们 我们可以改善人们在法院的体验, 敦促人们遵守法律 和法庭秩序, 以及提高民众对于 司法系统的信任可以通过 可以通过一个简单的想法来实现, 你们会作何感想? 这个理念就是程序正义。 这个概念是指: 让人们感到接受到公平的对待, 享受到了尊重与尊严, 人们自然就会去遵守法律。 这是耶鲁大学教授Tom Tyler发现的, 他从上世纪70年代 就开始了这方面的研究, 为什么人们遵守法律。 他发现:如果人们认可司法系统 作为一个执行规则 和管理的法定权威, 人们就会遵从它。 Tom Tyler的研究结论是: 如果人们感受到自己 受到了公平的对待, 受到了尊重, 就会对法官的判决感到满意, 即使法官做出对他们不利的判决, 那么这种对于公平的感觉 是从什么时候开始的呢? 这种感觉从法官对 在场人员说出第一句话就开始了。
Now, being a judge is sometimes like having a reserve seat to a tragic reality show that has no commercial interruptions and no season finale. It's true. People come before me handcuffed, drug-sick, depressed, hungry and mentally ill. When I saw that their need for help was greater than my fear of appearing vulnerable on the bench, I realized that not only did I need to do something, but that in fact I could do something.
作为一名法官, 你就像一个悲剧真人秀的观众一样, 这个真人秀不会出现商业广告, 也不会出现一季完结的情况。 这是真的。 每天有不同的人走到 我的面前:戴着手铐的, 生病的,抑郁的,饥饿的, 以及患有精神疾病的。 每当我看到这种场景, 那种想要帮助他们的冲动 就已经超过了我对于他们恐惧。 我意识到:我并不只是必须去做什么, 我还应该带来一些改变。
The good news is is that the principles of procedural justice are easy and can be implemented as quickly as tomorrow. The even better news, that it can be done for free.
好消息是:程序正义 的原则很好实践, 你明天就将它可以 运用到自己的工作中。 更好的消息是:这是完全免费的。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
The first principle is voice. Give people an opportunity to speak, even when you're not going to let them speak. Explain it. "Sir, I'm not letting you speak right now. You don't have an attorney. I don't want you to say anything that's going to hurt your case." For me, assigning essays to defendants has been a tremendous way of giving them voice.
第一条原则是声音: 给每个人发声的机会, 即使当你不允许他发言的时候, 也要解释原因: “先生,我现在不能让您发言。 您的律师还没有到场。 我不希望您的发言 会损害到您的利益。” 至于我,我通常会 让被告准备一篇陈述, 这是一个让他们发声 非常有效的方式。
I recently gave an 18-year-old college student an essay. He lamented his underage drinking charge. As he stood before me reading his essay, his voice cracking and his hands trembling, he said that he worried that he had become an alcoholic like his mom, who had died a couple of months prior due to alcohol-related liver disease.
最近,我让一个18岁 的大学生念了他的陈述。 对于青少年酗酒的指控, 他感到非常悔恨。 当时他站在我的面前 朗读着他的陈述, 他的嗓音沙哑,双手在颤抖。 他说他担心将来会变成 一个酗酒者,就像他妈妈一样。 他的妈妈在几个月前因为 酒精相关的肝病去世了。
You see, assigning a letter to my father, a letter to my son, "If I knew then what I know now ..." "If I believed one positive thing about myself, how would my life be different?" gives the person an opportunity to be introspective, go on the inside, which is where all the answers are anyway. But it also gives them an opportunity to share something with the court that goes beyond their criminal record and their charges.
我们让他们给自己的亲人写信。 “如果我当时就懂得这些的话······” “如果我相信自己还有一点希望的话, 我的生活也许会大有不同。” 给人们机会去反思自己, 正视自己的内心, 这就是正确答案所在。 同时,这也让他们 能够在法庭上,与大家分享 犯罪和指控之外的种种。
The next principle is neutrality. When increasing public trust in the justice system, neutrality is paramount. The judge cannot be perceived to be favoring one side over the other. The judge has to make a conscious decision not to say things like, "my officer," "my prosecutor," "my defense attorney." And this is challenging when we work in environments where you have people assigned to your courts, the same people coming in and out of your courts as well. When I think of neutrality, I'm reminded of when I was a new Rutgers Law grad and freshly minted attorney, and I entered an arbitration and I was greeted by two grey-haired men who were joking about the last game of golf they played together and planning future social outings. I knew my client couldn't get a fair shot in that forum.
下一条原则是保持中立。 当你希望增加人们 对于司法系统的信任时, 中立是至关重要的。 法官不能被人们感觉偏向于某一方。 法官需要三思,不要说出这样的话: “我的官员”,“我的原告” 以及“我的辩方律师”。 当我们在这个环境下工作时, 要注意这些是很困难的。 每天都有人来到你的法庭, 并且相同的人还会不断出现。 当我想到中立, 我会想到自己刚从 罗格斯大学法学院毕业, 第一次成为律师的时候。 那时,当我们进入仲裁环节, 两个灰头发的男人一起迎接我, 他们还在一起聊着上一场 他们一起参加的高尔夫球比赛, 并且计划着未来的社交活动。 我当时就知道,我的客户 不可能得到公平的裁决。
The next principle is understand. It is critical that court participants understand the process, the consequences of the process and what's expected of them. I like to say that legalese is the language we use to confuse.
下一条原则是理解。 让法庭的每个参与者都理解整个流程, 理解这些流程带来的结果, 以及它们能从这里获得些什么。 我倾向于认为法律术语 就是一套让人费解的语言。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
I am keenly aware that the people who appear before me, many of them have very little education and English is often their second language.
我真切的意识到那些站在我面前的人, 大多数教育程度比较低, 英语通常也只是他们的第二语言。
So I speak plain English in court. A great example of this was when I was a young judge -- oh no, I mean younger judge.
所以,我在法庭上只讲通俗的英语。 一个很好的例子是, 当我还是个年轻法官的时候—— 哦,不,当我还是一个 比较年轻的法官的时候——
(Laughter)
(笑声)
When I was a younger judge, a senior judge comes to me, gives me a script and says, "If you think somebody has mental health issues, ask them these questions and you can get your evaluation." So the first time I saw someone who had what I thought was a mental health issue, I went for my script and I started to ask questions.
一个资历较高的法官来到我身边, 给了我一份发言稿,说: “如果你遇到一个有精神疾患的人, 问他这上面的问题, 你就可以得到评估结果。 因此,当我第一次看见一个 我认为存在精神疾患的人, 我拿出那份发言稿,开始提问:
"Um, sir, do you take psycho -- um, psychotrop -- psychotropic medication?"
“嗯,先生,你在服用精—— 嗯,精神—— 精神药物吗?”
"Nope."
“没有。”
"Uh, sir, have you treated with a psychiatrist before?"
“啊,那先生之前有看过精神科医生吗?”
"Nope."
“没有。”
But it was obvious that the person was suffering from mental illness. One day, in my frustration, I decided to scrap the script and ask one question.
但是很显然能看出那个人 正在受到精神问题的困扰。 有一天,我彻底无奈了, 我决定放弃那份发言稿,只问一个问题:
"Ma'am, do you take medication to clear your mind?"
“夫人,你有通过吃药来 保持头脑清醒吗?”
"Yeah, judge, I take Haldol for my schizophrenia, Xanax for my anxiety."
“是的,法官,我服用氟哌啶醇 治疗我的精神分裂症, 阿普唑仑治疗我的焦虑。”
The question works even when it doesn't.
即使当事人给出了错误的回答, 这个问题也依然有效。
"Mr. L, do you take medication to clear your mind?"
“L先生,你有服用药物 保持头脑清醒吗?”
"No, judge, I don't take no medication to clear my mind. I take medication to stop the voices in my head, but my mind is fine."
“没有,法官,我没有吃治疗脑子的药物, 我只是吃药停止我脑袋中的声音, 但是我的脑袋是正常的。”
(Laughter)
(笑声)
You see, once people understand the question, they can give you valuable information that allows the court to make meaningful decisions about the cases that are before them.
你看,一旦人们理解了你的问题, 他们就会给出有用的信息, 这就能让法庭对于面前的案子 做出关键的决定。
The last principle is respect, that without it none of the other principles can work. Now, respect can be as simple as, "Good afternoon, sir." "Good morning, ma'am." It's looking the person in the eye who is standing before you, especially when you're sentencing them. It's when I say, "Um, how are you doing today? And what's going on with you?" And not as a greeting, but as someone who is actually interested in the response. Respect is the difference between saying, "Ma'am, are you having difficulty understanding the information in the paperwork?" versus, "You can read and write, can't you?" when you've realized there's a literacy issue. And the good thing about respect is that it's contagious. People see you being respectful to other folks and they impute that respect to themselves. You see, that's what the transgender prostitute was telling me. I'm judging you just as much as you think you may be judging me.
最后的一个原则是尊重。 没有这一条,其他的原则都不会有效。 表示尊重可以非常简单: “下午好,先生。” “早上好,女士。” 尊重是,当别人站在你面前时, 要正视对方的眼镜, 尤其是当你在向对方宣判的时候。 尊重是当你说出: “您感觉今天怎样? 您出了什么问题?” 并不是简简单单的打招呼, 而是让人们感到 你真正关心他们的回答。 尊重就体现在你的话语中的差别: “女士,在理解 这些文件上的信息有困难吗?” 而不是,“你能读能写吧?” 你需要认识到这些字里行间的差别。 好消息是,尊重是可以互相传播的。 人们看见你尊重他人, 他们也会对自己表现出尊重。 这就是那个变性的性工作者对我讲的。 当你在对我做出审判的时候, 我同时也在对你进行审判。
Now, I am not telling you what I think, I am telling you what I have lived, using procedural justice to change the culture at my courthouse and in the courtroom. After sitting comfortably for seven months as a traffic court judge, I was advised that I was being moved to the criminal court, Part Two, criminal courtroom. Now, I need you to understand, this was not good news.
我并不是在告诉大家我在想什么, 我希望向大家传达我的亲身经历: 用程序正义来改变我们法院的环境, 来改变法庭里的事情。 当我作为一名交通法官 平平稳稳地度过了7个月, 我被建议转去刑事法庭: 第二巡回刑事法庭。 我需要让你们知道, 这并不是一个好消息。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
It was not. Part Two was known as the worst courtroom in the city, some folks would even say in the state. It was your typical urban courtroom with revolving door justice, you know, your regular lineup of low-level offenders -- you know, the low-hanging fruit, the drug-addicted prostitute, the mentally ill homeless person with quality-of-life tickets, the high school dropout petty drug dealer and the misguided young people -- you know, those folks doing a life sentence 30 days at a time.
绝对不是。 第二法庭是公认的 整个城市最糟的法庭, 甚至有人说是全州最糟的法庭。 这是一个典型的城市法庭, 用来解决邻里的问题, 你所面对的都是 一些低级别的罪犯—— 都是容易误入歧途的人, 像吸毒成瘾的妓女, 患有精神疾患的无家可归者 拿着违反社会秩序的传票, 从高中辍学的毒贩,以及其他一些 被误导走上歧途的年轻人。 这些人就这样一次 监禁30天,一次监禁30天, 就像无期徒刑一样。
Fortunately, the City of Newark decided that Newarkers deserved better, and they partnered with the Center for Court Innovation and the New Jersey Judiciary to create Newark Community Solutions, a community court program that provided alternative sanctions. This means now a judge can sentence a defendant to punishment with assistance. So a defendant who would otherwise get a jail sentence would now be able to get individual counseling sessions, group counseling sessions as well as community giveback, which is what we call community service.
幸运的是,纽瓦克市认为纽瓦克市民 应该得到更好的对待, 同时他们与法庭改革中心 以及新泽西司法系统合作, 致力于创造一个纽瓦克社区解决方案: 社区法庭项目, 项目中法官可以采取可变通的裁决。 这意味着一个法官的判决 既要做到惩罚被告, 同时也要帮助被告人。 因此这些被告人在被判入狱之外, 现在他们也同时可以参加个人咨询, 小组咨询会,以及回报社区, 也就是我们所说的提供社区服务。
The only problem is that this wonderful program was now coming to Newark and was going to be housed where? Part Two criminal courtroom. And the attitudes there were terrible. And the reason that the attitudes were terrible there was because everyone who was sent there understood they were being sent there as punishment. The officers who were facing disciplinary actions at times, the public defender and prosecutor felt like they were doing a 30-day jail sentence on their rotation, the judges understood they were being hazed just like a college sorority or fraternity. I was once told that an attorney who worked there referred to the defendants as "the scum of the earth" and then had to represent them. I would hear things from folks like, "Oh, how could you work with those people? They're so nasty. You're a judge, not a social worker."
唯一的问题是,这么好的项目 来到纽瓦克市,他们首先 要在哪个法庭开展呢? 第二刑事法庭。 然而法庭人员对此 的态度都非常消极。 为什么他们态度如此消极呢? 因为被派到第二法庭的人 都认为这是一种惩罚。 官员们觉得自己在面临纪律处分, 公诉人则觉得他们 在轮流接受30天监禁, 而法官们觉得他们就像 在大学女生联谊会 或兄弟会一样受到了欺侮。 一个在那里工作的律师曾对我说, 那些被告就像地球上败类的集合一样, 而他还要为他们辩护。 我经常从工作人员 那里听到这样的话: “怎么能和那帮人一起工作, 他们那么讨厌。 你是一个法官,又不是一个社工。”
But the reality is that as a society, we criminalize social ills, then sent people to a judge and say, "Do something." I decided that I was going to lead by example. So my first foray into the approach came when a 60-something-year-old man appeared before me handcuffed. His head was lowered and his body was showing the signs of drug withdrawal. I asked him how long he had been addicted, and he said, "30 years." And I asked him, "Do you have any kids?" And he said, "Yeah, I have a 32-year-old son." And I said, "Oh, so you've never had the opportunity to be a father to your son because of your addiction." He began to cry. I said, "You know what, I'm going to let you go home, and you'll come back in two weeks, and when you come back, we'll give you some assistance for your addiction." Surprisingly, two weeks passed and he was sitting the courtroom. When he came up, he said, "Judge, I came back to court because you showed me more love than I had for myself." And I thought, my God, he heard love from the bench? I could do this all day.
但是事实就是,作为一个社会, 我们认定那些人犯罪了, 就把他们扔给法官 并说:“做点什么吧。” 我决定要改变这个现状, 成为一个好的榜样。 我第一次决定采取行动的对象是 一个大约60岁的老人, 他带着手铐走到我的面前。 他低着头,他的体征表明 他正处在毒品戒断反应中。 我问他吸毒成瘾多长时间了, 他回到:“30年。” 然后我又问他:“你有孩子吗?” 他说:“是的,我有一个32岁的儿子。” 我说:“哦,你一定没有机会 做一个合格的父亲, 因为你的毒瘾。 他开始哭了起来。 我说:“你知道吗,我会让你回家, 两周后你要再回到这里, 当你再回到这里的时候, 我们会为你的戒毒提供一些帮助。 令人惊奇的是, 两周后他回到了法庭上。 但他发言时,他说:“法官, 我回到这个法庭, 是因为你对我表现出了更多的爱, 甚至超过了我曾经对自己的爱。” 当时我想,我的天哪, 他在法庭感受到了关心。 我可以一整天都这样做。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
Because the reality is that when the court behaves differently, then naturally people respond differently. The court becomes a place you can go to for assistance, like the 60-something-year-old schizophrenic homeless woman who was in distress and fighting with the voices in her head, and barges into court, and screams, "Judge! I just came by to see how you were doing." I had been monitoring her case for a couple of months, her compliance with her medication, and had just closed out her case a couple of weeks ago. On this day she needed help, and she came to court. And after four hours of coaxing by the judge, the police officers and the staff, she is convinced to get into the ambulance that will take her to crisis unit so that she can get her medication.
事实上,当我的法庭 采取了新的方式后, 人们的反应也会自然的发生变化。 法庭变成了一个人们寻求帮助的地方。 例如有一个大约60岁,患有 精神分裂症的无家可归的女性, 她处在抑郁之中, 一直与自己头脑中的声音做着斗争, 她突然走入法庭对我喊:“法官! 我想来看看你近来怎样。” 我曾经有好几个月负责她的案子, 敦促她按时服药, 在几周前刚刚结束他的案子。 那天她刚好需要帮助, 所以来到了法庭。 法官,警察,以及工作人员 哄了她4个小时, 终于让她同意坐上急救车, 去危机应对室, 保证她能够得到应有的治疗。
People become connected to their community when the court changes, like the 50-something-year-old man who told me, "Community service was terrible, Judge. I had to clean the park, and it was full of empty heroin envelopes, and the kids had to play there." As he wrung his hands, he confessed, "Judge, I realized that it was my fault, because I used that same park to get high, and before you sent me there to do community service, I had never gone to the park when I wasn't high, so I never noticed the children playing there." Every addict in the courtroom lowered their head. Who better to teach that lesson?
当法庭做出这样的改变的时候, 人们开始和自己的社区建立联系。 又比如一个大约50岁的男性, 对我说:“我们的社区服务 真的太糟了,法官。 我需要去清扫公园,然而公园里 满是空的海洛因包装, 而同时那里还有孩子们在玩耍。” 他攥紧自己的手,对我倾诉: “法官,我意识到这是我的错误, 因为我曾经在那个相同的公园里吸毒, 在你没派我去公园进行社区服务前, 我从来没有神志清醒的 来到过那个公园。 我也从来没有意识到那里有孩子在玩。” 每个当庭的瘾君子都低下了自己的头。 还有谁能让他们真正开始反省自己呢?
It helps the court reset its relationship with the community, like with the 20-something-year-old guy who gets a job interview through the court program. He gets a job interview at an office cleaning company, and he comes back to court to proudly say, "Judge, I even worked in my suit after the interview, because I wanted the guy to see how bad I wanted the job."
这一切帮助法庭重建了 和社区之间的关系。 还比如,一个大约20岁的年轻人, 他通过法庭的项目得到了 一次工作面试的机会。 他面试的工作是一家清洁公司。 当他回到法庭时自豪地说: “法官,面试后我甚至 穿着西装在工作, 因为我希望让那些人看到, 我多么想要得到这份工作。
It's what happens when a person in authority treats you with dignity and respect, like the 40-something-year-old guy who struts down the aisle and says, "Judge, do you notice anything different?" And when I look up, he's pointing at his new teeth that he was able to get after getting a referral from the program, but he was able to get them to replace the old teeth that he lost as a result of years of heroin addiction. When he looks in the mirror, now he sees somebody who is worth saving.
这就是当一个来自权力机构的人 充满尊重和尊严地 对待每一个人时发生的一切。 又比如,一个大约40岁的人走在过道上, 对我说:“法官,你注意到 我看起来有什么不同了吗?” 当我抬起头时, 他指着自己的新牙齿。 他因为法庭的项目得到转诊的机会, 才得以更换自己的旧牙, 那些牙齿因为多年吸食海洛因都掉了。 现在当他照镜子的时候, 他能看到一个值得在世上活下去的人,
You see, I have a dream and that dream is that judges will use these tools to revolutionize the communities that they serve. Now, these tools are not miracle cure-alls, but they get us light-years closer to where we want to be, and where we want to be is a place that people enter our halls of justice and believe they will be treated with dignity and respect and know that justice will be served there. Imagine that, a simple idea.
我有自己的梦想。 我的梦想是让所有的法官 都能够使用这套工具, 去改造他们服务的社区。 这些工具并不是万能的解药, 但是能够帮助我们向 既定的目标更近一步, 我们的目标是当人们来到法庭时, 他们相信自己在法庭上 能够得到尊重和尊严, 并且他们知道在这里正义会得到维护。 想象一下,这个简单的想法。
Thank you.
谢谢大家。
(Applause)
(掌声)