Judges behaving badly

Judges behaving badly糟糕的法官言行

Jun 28th 2007
From The Economist print edition选自《经济学人》印刷版

Low pay and partisan elections are threatening judicial integrity
——偏低的收入和党派选举的影响正在威胁司法的完整性

A $54m lawsuit over a pair of pinstriped trousers that went missing from a Washington, DC, cleaners was thrown out by a judge this week. It had attracted worldwide ridicule. The fact that the case was brought, not by a random loony, but by a former judge has added to the sense that something is wrong not just with America's litigation laws, but with the kind of men and women Americans choose to sit in judgment over them.
本 周，一名法官判定华盛顿一家洗衣店须对一条在该店遗失的细纹裤子赔偿$54m美元。此事成为全球的笑柄。因为事实是，这件案子不是由任何一个疯子判决，而 是由一名能分辨对与错且具有理性判断力的前任法官判决，他通晓美国法律，并且有挑选出来代表美国人民的一群男男女女的协助。

A whole series of judicial misdemeanours, ranging from the titillating to the outrageous, has emerged over the past year. Take the Florida state judge, John Sloop, who was ousted after complaints about his “rude and abusive” behaviour. This included an order to strip-search and jail 11 defendants for arriving late in traffic court after being misdirected. Or the Californian judge, José Velasquez, sacked in April for a plethora of misconduct, including extending the sentences of defendants who dared question his rulings.
事实上，在去年的一年里，从轻微 到严重，一系列司法上的不端行为就已经不断出现。就拿佛罗里达的州法官John Sloop的例子来说，他抗议称呼他的一些行为为“粗鲁的和带有辱骂性的”，随后他被解职。这些行为包括光身搜查的命令以及关押11名被告，这些被告因错 误的指引而导致在交通法庭上迟到。还有加里弗尼亚州的法官José Velasquez，他于四月份被解雇。原因是过分的处置不当，包括任意延长胆敢质疑他的裁决权威的被告的刑期。

Then there was the Albany city judge, William Carter, in New York, censored for his “utterly inexcusable” conduct after jumping down from the bench during a trial, shedding his robes and apparently challenging a defendant to a fist-fight. Another time, he suggested that the police “thump the shit out” of an allegedly disrespectful defendant. Mr Carter wasn't carrying a gun; many judges now do. In Florida, Charles Greene, chief criminal judge in Broward County, had to step down after describing a trial for attempted murder involving minority defendants and witnesses as “NHI” (No Humans Involved). Then there are the sexual peccadilloes. In Colorado, a (male) judge resigned after admitting having sex with a (female) prosecutor in his chambers. In California, a former judge was jailed for 27 months for downloading child pornography. And in Oklahoma Donald Thompson, a judge for more than 20 years, was jailed for four years for indecent exposure and using a “penis pump” to masturbate during trials.再就是纽约州的奥拉巴尼市法官William Carter。
在 一次庭审中，Carter从法官席上跳下来，扯下自己的法官袍，与一名被告厮打在一起。由于此次“绝对不可饶恕的”行为，Carter正在受到调查。还有 一次他建议警察应该把那些无礼的被告的“肚子里的大粪给揍出来”。然而Carter的话比起其他一些法官来说远不够火力。佛罗里达州布沃德郡的首席刑事法 庭法官Charles Greene曾描述一起有少数民族裔的被告和证人卷入的凶杀案件说：没有任何人类参与次案。他因此而被解职。除此之外，部分法官还有涉及性方面的麻烦。科 罗拉多州的一名男性法官承认说，他曾经与一名女性原告在其办公间发生性关系。随后这名法官引咎辞职。加里弗尼亚的一名前法官由于下载儿童色情资料而被判 27个月的监禁。还有俄克拉荷马州的Donald Thompson法官，由于被控在庭审时有伤风化的暴露和xxxx行为而被判4年刑期。

More serious are the cases of corruption. On June 5th Gerald Garson, a former judge in Brooklyn, New York, was jailed for taking bribes to rig divorce cases. Another judge was convicted of accepting money to refer clients to a particular lawyer. Rumours of buying and selling of judgeships in the district abound. At one time, one in ten Brooklyn judges were said to be under investigation for sleaze.
除 此之外，更多的例子则与腐败有关。6月5日，纽约布鲁克林区的前法官Gerald Garson由于在离婚案件中接受贿赂试图操控判决而被逮捕。另一名法官则由于收受现金指示委托人委托特定律师而被宣告有罪。买卖法官席位的谣传在这一地 区也到处流传。曾经有一个时期，据说十名法官中就有一名受到过不名誉的调查。

“To distrust the judiciary,” said Honoré de Balzac, “marks the beginning of the end of society.” In Britain, judges are one of the most respected groups. But in America they tend to be held in low esteem, particularly at state level. For this many people blame low pay and the fact that judges are elected. In 39 states, some or all judges are elected for fixed terms. Federal judges, usually held in much higher esteem, are appointed on merit for life—as in Britain.
Honoré de Balzac说：“对司法的不信任是一个社会开始走下坡路的标志。” 在英国，法官是最受尊重的职业之一。但是在美国法官受到的尊重就不是那么多，特别是在州层面上。很多人指责说官的低收入以及法官的选举是产生这种状况的原 因。 有39个州的法官全部或者说部分是从特定的渠道中选举出来的。联邦的法官通常依据法官的个人功绩来任命，因而能受到更高的尊敬，这和英国基本一样。

Most states allow judicial candidates to raise campaign funds. Huge sums are often involved, leading to inevitable suspicions that, once on the bench, judges will pass judgments that favour their benefactors. In 2004 the two candidates in one Illinois district (with a population of just 1.3m) raised a staggering $9.4m between them. Some of the states with the highest levels of campaign spending—Texas, Louisiana and Alabama—are also those whose judges are most criticised.
大 多数州允许法官的候选人筹集竞选资金，因而会有大量的资金卷入。这不可避免的会引起这样的怀疑：一旦这些候选人成为法官，他们会通过对他们的支持者有利的 裁决。2004年伊利诺斯州的两名候选人共筹集到差不多$9.4m的资金。那些在竞选中花费最高的州同时也是法官受到的批评最多的州——例如田纳西州，路 易斯安纳州和阿拉巴马州。

In the past, judicial candidates were banned from discussing controversial legal or political issues on the campaign trail. But in 2002 the Supreme Court ruled such bans to be unconstitutional, leading candidates to advertise freely their views on abortion and suchlike. Personal attacks have also become more common. Indeed, Sandra Day O'Connor, a former Supreme Court justice, fears that judicial elections have turned into “political prize-fights, where partisans and special interests seek to install judges who will answer to them instead of the law and the constitution.”
过去，司法领域的候选人在竞选过程中禁止讨 论有争议性的或者政治性的议题。但是在2002年，最高法院裁定这项禁令违反宪法。这为候选人毫无拘束地登广告发表他们对堕胎以及诸如此类事物的看法开了 个头。个人攻击也成了家常便饭。实际上，前最高法院法官Sandra Day O'Connor就担心法院的选举会转变为“一场政治拳击赛，在那里党派和特殊团体利益取代了法律和宪法，争相寻求任命可能回报他们的法官。”

The meagre salaries of judges, whether at state or federal level, do not help raise standards either. Federal judges have not had a real pay rise for 17 years; a district court judge earns $165,000 a year, about the same as a first-year associate in a top law firm. John Roberts, chief justice of the Supreme Court, earns just $212,000—half the salary of England's top judge and one-fifth of the average income of a partner in the majority of America's 100 top-grossing law firms. Around 40 judges have left the federal bench over the past five years.
无 论在州一级还是在联邦一级，法官不高的薪水都对整体工资标准的提升毫无帮助。联邦法官已经有17年没有实际的薪金上涨了；一名地方法院的法官每年大约有 $165,000的收入，这和一名在顶级法律事物所里的初级助理的收入大致相当。最高法院的首席法官John Roberts的年收入只有$212,000，这大约是英格兰最高法院法官收入的一半，是美国的100家顶级律师事物所里的大多数合伙人平均年收入的五十 分之一。在过去的5年里，大约有40名联邦法官离开了法官的位置。

In his annual report to Congress in January, Mr Roberts said that the issue of judges' pay had reached “the level of a constitutional crisis”.It was threatening the judiciary's strength and independence. In February, Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, promised legislation to fix it within the current session. The judges are still waiting. Meanwhile, state judges in New York are preparing to sue the state for their first pay rise since 1999. The battle is joined.
Roberts先生在今年一月份向国会所 做的年度报告中说，有关法官薪金的议题已经升至“宪法危机的水平”。参议院司法委员会主席，民主党人Patrick Leahy承诺说立法机构会在本季度内解决这个问题。法官们仍然在等待。同一时间，纽约市的州法官正准备向州政府提出自1999年以来的首次提薪要求。