"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,我想告訴你一件事。 我想告訴你一件事。 我一直在注意你, 你並不是雙面人。 你平等對待每個人。
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."
以上是位變性娼妓告訴我的, 在我走上法官席之前, 她已經開除了她的公設辯護律師, 污辱了法庭警察, 並對坐在她旁邊的人大吼: 「我不知道你在看甚麼。 我看起來比你女友還好。」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
在她對我說那些話之前, 我小聲說出她的男性名字, 音量足以讓記錄員聽得到, 但我大聲說出她的女性名字, 讓她可以尊嚴地穿過走道 走到律師桌旁。 這就是程序正義,即程序公平, 發揮到極至。
You see, I am the daughter of an African-American garbageman who was born in Harlem and spent his summers in the segregated South.
我爸爸是非裔美國清潔工, 他生在哈林區, 夏天都待在種族隔離的南方。
Soy la hija de una peluquera dominicana.
Soy la hija de una peluquera dominicana.(以西語說她的母親)
I do that to make sure you're still paying attention.
我這樣做是要確保 你們都還在留心聽。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
我媽媽是多明尼加美容師, 她來到這個國家,是為了尚未 出生的孩子尋找更好的生活。 我父母教我要用尊嚴和尊敬 對待遇到的每個人, 不論他們的長相,不論他們的衣著, 不論他們如何說話。 公平的原則, 我在很小的時候就學到了, 我那時並不知道,那會是我帶到 紐華克地方法院 法官席上最重要的一課。 因為早在十歲時 我就被拖離遊樂場去幫家人翻譯, 那是在他們移民美國之初, 因此我了解新手要在政府制度下 找到方向是多麼讓人氣餒。
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,在全美以及全球, 人們會需要面對法官, 法庭是個很陌生、令人生畏的、 且通常對他們很有敵意的地方。 他們對於受到 甚麼樣的指控感到困惑, 對於和警方的接觸著急懊惱, 且要面對判決結果有可能會 影響到他們的關係、財務、 甚至他們的自由。
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.
讓我為各位說明 一般人面對法官時會是甚麼樣。 首先,通過法庭警衛時會被搜身, 這使得他們惱火。 好不容易通過法庭警衛, 他們走在大樓裡 問不同的人相同的問題, 卻得到不同的答案。 當他們終於到了他們該去的地方, 他們面對法官的情況就非常糟。
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.
你們覺得如何,若我說: 可以改善人們的法庭經驗, 讓他們更符合法律和法庭命令的規範, 同時增加公眾對於 司法體制的信任, 只需用一個簡單想法就做到? 那個簡單想法就是程序正義, 它是一個概念,指的是 如果人們覺得他們被地公平對待, 能得到尊嚴及尊重, 他們就會遵守法律。 那是耶魯教授湯姆泰勒的發現, 他早在七零年代時就開始研究 為甚麼人們會遵守法律。 他發現,如果人們將司法體制視為是 強制實施規則和規定的正當權威, 他們就會遵從。 他的研究結論是, 人們會滿意 法官的判決, 即使法官的判決對他們不利, 只要他們覺得他們有被公平對待, 且有得到尊嚴和尊重。 而那種公平的感覺要從何開始? 始於法官對法庭參與者說話的方式。
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.
擔任法官 有時有點像是 在悲劇實境節目中有個保留席, 這節目沒有廣告打斷, 也沒有當季完結篇。 是真的。 人們來到我面前時,手被銬著、 毒癮發作、沮喪、飢餓、 頭腦有問題。 當我看到,他們對於協助的需求 大於我害怕在法官席上 顯得脆弱的恐懼, 我不只了解到我得要做點甚麼, 也了解到我能夠做甚麼。
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,程序正義的原則很簡單, 可以快到明天就實施。 更好的消息是,它可以是免費的 。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
第一條原則是聲音。 給人們發聲的機會, 即使你沒有讓他們說話。 解釋一下。 「先生,我無法讓你在現在發言。 你沒有律師。 我不希望你說出任何 不利於你案件的話。」 對我來說,指派被告寫篇短文 一直都是讓他們發聲好方式。
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.
我最近叫一個十八歲的 大學生寫一篇短文。 他為他未成年飲酒的指控感到悲痛。 他站在我面前,讀他的短文, 他的聲音粗啞,他的手在發抖, 他說他擔心會變成 和他媽媽一樣的酒鬼, 他的媽媽幾個月前過世, 死因是和飲酒有關的肝病。
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.
指派寫一封信給父親、給兒子: 「如果我當初知道我現在知道的…」 「如果我相信自己的一個優點, 我的人生會有何不同?」 給這個人一個機會來自省, 向內看, 畢竟所有的答案都在那裡。 但這麼做也是給他們機會 和法庭分享一些超出 他們的犯罪紀錄和指控之外的東西。
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.
下一個原則是中立。 若要在司法體制中增加公眾的信任, 中立是最重要的。 法官不能讓人覺得他在偏袒某一方。 法官必須要做出有意識的決定, 不能說像這樣的話: 「我的警官」、「我的檢察官」、 「我的辯護律師」。 法庭上的人都是被指派來的, 同樣的人進出你的法庭, 在這樣的環境中工作, 要做到這一點很有挑戰性。 當我在思考中立性時, 我會想到當我剛從 羅格斯法學院畢業, 還是個新人菜鳥律師, 我去到一場仲裁, 有兩個灰髮男子迎接我, 他們在笑談著他們上次 一起打的高爾夫球賽, 並在規劃之後的社交旅行。 我知道我的客戶不會在 那個法庭得到公平的機會。
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.
下一個原則是了解。 非常重要的一點是, 法庭參與者要了解流程、 流程的後果、 以及他人對他們的期望。 我想說,法律措辭是 我們用來讓人困惑的語言。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
我非常清楚知道, 出現在我面前的人, 當中有許多人沒受過多少教育, 且英文常常是他們的第二語言。
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.
所以在法庭上我說的是白話英文。 有個很好的例子, 當我是個年輕的法官時—— 應該說,比較年輕的法官——
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
當我是個比較年輕的法官時, 一位資深法官來找我, 給我一份稿子,說: 「如果你認為一個人 有心理健康問題, 問他們這些問題, 你就可以做評估了。」 所以,當我第一次遇到 我認為有心理健康問題的人時, 我就拿出我的稿子,開始問問題。
"Um, sir, do you take psycho -- um, psychotrop -- psychotropic medication?"
「先生,你是否服用治療精—— 呃,治療精神—— 治療精神異常的藥物?」
"Nope."
「沒有。」
"Uh, sir, have you treated with a psychiatrist before?"
「先生,你以前是否有 接受過精神病醫師的治療?」
"Nope."
「沒有。」
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.
但很明顯這個人是有精神病的。 我覺得很挫折,有一天, 我扔了我的稿子,問了一個問題。
"Ma'am, do you take medication to clear your mind?"
「女士,你是否服用藥物 來讓腦袋清醒?」
"Yeah, judge, I take Haldol for my schizophrenia, Xanax for my anxiety."
「有的,法官,我吃氟哌啶醇 來治療精神分裂症, 吃佳靜安定來治療焦慮。」
The question works even when it doesn't.
這個問題連在沒用時都有用。
"Mr. L, do you take medication to clear your mind?"
「L 先生,你是否服用 藥物來讓腦袋清醒?」
"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."
「不,法官,我不用 任何藥物來讓腦袋清醒。 我吃藥是為了讓我腦中的聲音停止, 但我的腦子很好。」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
一旦人們能了解問題, 他們就能給你有價值的資訊, 讓法庭能對於審理的案件 做出有意義的決定。
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.
最後一項原則是尊重, 沒有尊重,所有的原則都沒用。 尊重可以像這麼簡單: 「午安,先生。」「早安,女士。」 看著站在你面前的這個人的雙眼, 特別是當你在對他們宣判時。 那時我會說:「你今天好嗎? 有發生什麼事嗎?」 那不是打招呼, 而是要真的對回應感到興趣。 尊重,就是下列 兩種說法之間的差別: 「女士,你是否有困難 無法了解文件上的資訊?」 對比「你識字也會寫字,對吧?」 兩種都是當發現 有識字問題時的問法。 尊重有個好處,就是它有感染力。 人們看見你對其他人尊重, 他們會把那尊重轉嫁給他們自己。 那就是那位變性娼妓告訴我的。 你認為你在評斷我, 我也同樣在評斷你。
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.
我不是在告訴你們我的想法, 我說的是我親身經歷過的, 用程序正義來改變 我的法院中的文化, 以及法庭中的文化。 在非常舒適地當了七個月的 交通法庭法官之後, 我被告知我要被調到刑事法庭, 第二部份,刑事法庭。 我需要各位了解, 這不是好消息。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
不是。 第二部份是全市中最糟的法庭, 甚至有人會說是全州中最糟的。 它是個很典型的法庭,有著旋轉門, 常見的一排低階犯罪者, 如你所知,最簡單的, 有毒癮的娼妓, 有精神疾病又無家可歸的人 因為小的不端行為被開罰單, 高中中綴生、低層的毒販、 誤入歧途的年輕人—— 這些人是以一次三十天的方式 服終身監禁的刑。
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.
幸運的是,紐華克市認為 紐華克值得有更好的, 他們與法院創新中心 以及新澤西州司法部合作, 創造了紐華克社區解決方案, 這是一個社區法庭計劃, 提供替代的制裁。 這意味著,法官可以 判被告協助性質的懲罰。 本來可能會被判坐牢的被告, 現在能得到各別的諮詢時段, 團體諮詢時段,還有社區回饋, 也就是所謂的社區服務。
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."
唯一的問題是,這美好的計劃 現在要來到紐華克,要被放在哪裡? 第二部份刑事法庭。 而那裡的態度糟透了。 那裡態度糟透的原因是, 因為每個被送到那裡的人, 都知道他們是被送去那裡受罰的。 警員總是在面對紀律行為問題, 公設辯護律師和檢察官 覺得他們被罰做三十天的輪調, 法官了解他們是被捉弄, 就像大學兄弟會或姐妹會。 我曾聽說,有個在那裡工作的律師, 把被告稱為「地球的人渣」, 然後還得要代表他們。 我會聽到人們這樣說: 「你怎麼能忍受和這些人 工作?他們好齷齪。 你是法官,不是社工。」
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.
但現實是,我們這個社會 會將社會問題當犯罪看待, 接著把人送去給法官, 說:「做點甚麼吧。」 我決定我要帶頭當典範。 我初次嘗試這個方法, 對象是六十多歲的男子, 他在我面前時手被銬著。 他低著頭,他的身體 顯示出戒斷毒品的徵兆。 我問他,他染上毒癮多久了, 他說:「三十年。」 我問他:「你有孩子嗎?」 他說:「有,我有個 三十二歲的兒子。」 我說:「喔,所以你從來沒有機會 去扮演你兒子的父親, 因為你染上了毒癮。」 他開始哭。 我說:「你知道嗎,我要放你回家, 兩週後你再回來, 當你回來時,我們會 給你戒毒方面的協助。」 很意外地,兩週過去了, 他坐在法庭內。 他上前時,他說: 「法官,我回來法庭 因為你對我展現的愛, 比我給我自己的愛還多。」 我心想,我的天, 他從法官席聽到愛? 我可以整天都這樣做。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
因為,現實是, 當法庭的行為不同時, 很自然地,人的回應也會不同。 法庭變成你可以去求助的地方, 就像一位六十多歲的 精神分裂無家女子, 她很煩惱, 在對抗她腦中的聲音, 她衝進法庭,大叫:「法官! 我只是來看看你好不好。」 我已經監控她的案子好幾個月了, 她有依指示服藥, 幾週前她的案子才剛結案。 在這一天,她需要協助, 而她來到了法庭。 在法官、警官、其他職員 哄勸四小時之後, 她被說服上了救護車, 救護車會載她到危機單位, 在那裡她能拿到她的藥。
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?
當法庭改變,人們就能 和他們的社區連結, 就像有一位五十多歲的男子 告訴我:「社區服務很糟,法官。 我得要清理公園, 那裡都是空的海洛因封套, 而孩子還在那邊玩。」 他一副憂慮的樣子,他自白說: 「法官,我了解到,那是我的錯, 因為我曾在那個公園吸毒, 在你把我送去做社區服務之前, 我不曾在不吸毒時去公園, 所以我從來沒有注意到 有孩子在那裡玩。」 法庭上的每個癮君子都低著頭。 誰比他更適合教那一課呢?
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."
這能協助法庭重建和社區的關係, 就像一位二十多歲的男子, 他透過法庭方案得到工作面談, 得以面試一家清潔辦公室的公司。 他很驕傲地回到法庭,說: 「法官,在面談之後, 我甚至穿著西裝工作, 因為我想要讓那個人看到 我有多想要那份工作。」
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.
那樣的情況發生在 有權的人用尊嚴和尊重對待你之後。 就像一位四十多歲的男子 趾高氣揚走過走道, 說:「法官,你有 注意到甚麼差異嗎?」 當我抬頭看, 他指著他的新牙齒, 因為那專案的推薦, 讓他得以換新牙齒, 他換掉了他的舊牙齒,那些牙齒 會壞掉就是多年吸食海洛因造成的。 當他看向鏡子, 他現在看到的,是個值得拯救的人。
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.
我有個夢想, 那個夢想就是,法官會用這些工具 來徹底改革他們所服務的社區。 這些工具不是神奇的萬靈丹, 卻讓我們大大地接近期望之地, 我們的期望是 當人們進入正義大廳時 相信他們會被以尊嚴和尊重對待, 知道正義會在那裡得到伸張。 想想那樣的世界,一個簡單的想法。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)