TED2010
Philip K. Howard: Four ways to fix a broken legal system
菲利普.霍华德：修复残缺法律体系的四种方法
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菲利普K ·霍华德认为：美国这个自由国度已经成为法律雷区——特别是对于教师及医生，他们工作时充满了对吃官司的恐惧。有没有解决之道呢？身为一位律师，霍华德有四条简化美国法律的建议。
Philip K. Howard - Legal activist
Philip K. Howard is the founder of Common Good, a drive to overhaul the US legal system. His new book is 'The Rule of Nobody.' Full bio
Philip K. Howard is the founder of Common Good, a drive to overhaul the US legal system. His new book is 'The Rule of Nobody.' Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
I've always been interested in
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我一直对
00:18
the relationship of formal structures and human behavior.
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关系的形态及人类行为很有兴趣。
00:22
If you build a wide road out to the outskirts of town, people will move there.
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如果我们修好通往郊区一条宽阔的路，就会有居民迁移到那里。
00:26
Well, law is also a powerful driver
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同样，法律也是一个强有力的
00:30
of human behavior.
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人类行为驱动器。
00:32
And what I'd like to discuss today
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我今天想讨论的
00:34
is the need to overhaul and simplify the law
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是整顿和简化法律的必要性，
00:37
to release the energy and passion
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以释放美国人民的能量与激情
00:40
of Americans, so that we can begin
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这样我们才能着手
00:42
to address the challenges of our society.
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处理当前社会的各种挑战。
00:45
You might have noticed that law has grown
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你可以已经感觉到
00:48
progressively denser in your lives over the last decade or two.
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在过去的一二十年里你的生活渐渐被法律所笼罩。
00:51
If you run a business, it's hard to do much of anything
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如果你经商
00:55
without calling your general counsel.
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若不咨询法律顾问，你将举步维艰。
00:57
Indeed, there is this phenomenon now
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现在确实就是这么一种状况：
00:59
where the general counsels are becoming the CEOs.
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法律顾问成为了CEO
01:02
It's a little bit like the Invasion Of The Body Snatchers.
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这有点像外星人入侵。
01:05
You need a lawyer to run the company,
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你需要一个律师经营企业。
01:07
because there's so much law.
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因为法律太多了。
01:09
But it's not just business that's affected by this,
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但不仅仅是商业受到这样的影响。
01:12
it's actually pressed down into the daily activities
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它实际上已经蔓延到
01:14
of ordinary people.
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人民群众的日常生活中。
01:16
A couple of years ago I was hiking near Cody, Wyoming.
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几年前我在怀俄明州科迪徒步旅行。
01:20
It was in a grizzly bear preserve,
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那是在一个白熊保护区，
01:22
although no one told me that before we went.
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但去之前没人告诉我这些。
01:24
And our guide was a local science teacher.
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我们的导游是当地的一位教师。
01:28
She was wholly unconcerned about the bears,
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她与这些熊毫无关联，
01:30
but she was terrified of lawyers.
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但她非常害怕律师。
01:33
The stories started pouring out.
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故事的倾诉由此开始。
01:35
She'd just been involved in an episode where a parent
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她刚刚卷入一场
01:37
had threatened to sue the school
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家长威胁要控告学校的纠纷中
01:40
because she lowered the grade of the student by 10 percent
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是因为她给一位学生降低了10%的分数，
01:42
when he turned the paper in late.
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因为他不按时交卷。
01:44
The principal didn't want to stand up to the parent
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校长不想与家长作对
01:46
because he didn't want to get dragged into some legal proceedings.
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因为他不愿意陷入法律诉讼程序。
01:49
So, she had to go to meeting after meeting, same arguments made
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因此，她只好参加一个接一个的会议，
01:51
over and over again.
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同样的论述重复了一遍又一遍。
01:53
After 30 days of sleepless nights, she finally capitulated
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经过长达30天的无眠之夜之后，她最终选择了投降，
01:56
and raised the grade.
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并上调了分数。
01:58
She said, "Life's too short, I just can't keep going with this."
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她说，“生命如此短暂，我不能纠结在这里。”
02:01
About the same time, she was going to take two students to a leadership conference
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与此同时，她要带两个学生出席一个领导力会议，
02:04
in Laramie, which is a couple of hours away,
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位于几小时车程开外的拉勒米(Laramie)，
02:07
and she was going to drive them in her car,
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她本打算用自己的车送他们去，
02:09
but the school said, "No, you can't drive them in the car
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但学校却说,"不，出于责权考虑，
02:11
for liability reasons.
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你不能用自己的车送他们。
02:13
You have to go in a school bus."
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必须乘坐学校校车。“
02:15
So, they provided a bus that held 60 people
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为此，动用了一辆可载60人的巴士
02:18
and drove the three of them back and forth
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花几小时送他们三人
02:20
several hours to Laramie.
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往返Laramie（拉勒米）。
02:22
Her husband is also a science teacher,
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他丈夫也是一位理科教师，
02:25
and he takes his biology class on a hike
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他经常带着他的生物课班学生
02:28
in the nearby national park.
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去国家公园附近徒步旅行。
02:31
But he was told he couldn't go on the hike this year
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但他被告知今年不能组织登山，
02:33
because one of the students in the class was disabled,
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因为他班里有一个学生是残疾人，
02:36
so the other 25 students didn't get to go on the hike either.
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其他的25个学生也不能参加登山活动了。
02:40
At the end of this day I could have filled a book
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在这天结束时我可以出一本
02:43
just with stories about law
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来源于这位教师
02:45
from this one teacher.
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的法律故事书。
02:47
Now, we've been taught to believe that law
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现在，我们已经被教唆相信
02:49
is the foundation of freedom.
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法律是自由的基础。
02:52
But somehow or another, in the last couple of decades,
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但因种种原因在过去几十年
02:54
the land of the free has become a legal minefield.
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我们的自由国度已成为一片法律雷区。
02:58
It's really changed our lives in ways
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它已经以
03:01
that are sort of imperceptible;
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某种不知不觉的方式改变了我们的生活。
03:03
and yet, when you pull back, you see it all the time.
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当你回想起来，你始终可以看到这一点。
03:05
It's changed the way we talk. I was talking to a
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它改变了我们谈话的方式。我曾经和一位
03:07
pediatrician friend
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在北卡罗利纳的儿科医生朋友谈话。
03:09
in North Carolina. He said,
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他说，
03:11
"Well you know, I don't deal with patients the same way anymore.
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“你知道的，我再也不想以前那样和病人打交道了，
03:14
You wouldn't want to say something off-the-cuff
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你不会愿意从你口中说出的话
03:17
that might be used against you."
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被他们用来起诉你的理由。“
03:20
This is a doctor, whose life is caring for people.
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这是一位医生，他的使命是照顾人们。
03:23
My own law firm has a list of questions
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我组件的律师事务所有一个
03:26
that I'm not allowed to ask
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与候选者交谈时不允许涉及的
03:28
when interviewing candidates,
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问题列表。
03:30
such as the sinister question,
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比如不吉利的问题，
03:32
bulging with hidden motives and innuendo,
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凸显隐藏的动机和讥讽，
03:36
"Where are you from?"
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诸如“你来自哪里？”
03:38
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
03:40
Now for 20 years, tort reformers have been sounding the alarm
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在过去的20年中，民事侵权行为改革人士已经敲响了
03:44
that lawsuits are out of control.
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法律失控的警钟。
03:46
And we read every once in while
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并且我们每次读到
03:48
about these crazy lawsuits, like the guy
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这些疯狂的起诉故事的时候，
03:50
in the District of Columbia who sued his dry cleaners for 54 million dollars
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就像哥伦比亚区的那位起诉他的清洁工获得5千4百万美元
03:54
because they lost his pair of pants.
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因为他们使去了他的一条裤子。
03:56
The case went on for two years; I think he's still appealing the case.
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这个案子是两年了，我觉得他还在上诉这个案子。
03:59
But the reality is, these crazy cases
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但现实是，这些疯狂的案子是相对来讲很少的。
04:02
are relatively rare. They don't usually win.
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它们一般不会胜诉。
04:05
And the total of direct tort cost
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因为美国的直接侵权行为的总成本
04:07
in this country is about two percent,
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大概有两个百分点，
04:09
which is twice as much as in other countries
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是其它国家的两倍。
04:12
but, as taxes go, hardly crippling.
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但是，随着税收的严重削减。
04:16
But the direct costs are really only the tip of the iceberg.
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直接成本实际上只是冰山一角。
04:20
What's happened here, again,
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这里曾经发生的，
04:22
almost without our knowing,
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几乎无需我们知道，
04:24
is our culture has changed.
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我们的文化已经改变。
04:27
People no longer feel free
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人们已经在做他们最好的判断时
04:29
to act on their best judgment.
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已经不再感觉到自由了。
04:31
So, what do we do about it?
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那么，我们要怎么改变它？
04:33
We certainly don't want to give up the rights,
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我们当然不愿意放弃权力，
04:35
when people do something wrong, to seek redress in the courts.
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当人们做错事的时候，去法庭寻求公正。
04:38
We need regulation to make sure
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我们需要监管来确保人们不去污染
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people don't pollute and such.
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或者做之类的坏事儿。
04:42
We lack even a vocabulary to deal with
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我们甚至没有一个词汇来形容
04:44
this problem,
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这个问题。
04:46
and that's because we have the wrong frame of reference.
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那是因为我们现在有错误的参考体系。
04:49
We've been trained to think that the way to look at every dispute,
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我们已经被训练成研究每个争端，每个问题
04:52
every issue, is a matter of kind of individual rights.
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是一种个人权益的问题。
04:55
And so we peer through a legal microscope, and look at everything.
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我们通过法律的放大镜去研究每件事。
04:58
Is it possible that there are extenuating circumstances
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有没有可能有其它的情况
05:02
that explain why Johnny
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来解释怀俄明州的强尼
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turned his paper in late in Cody, Wyoming?
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把他的遗书上交如此晚？
05:08
Is it possible that the doctor
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有没有可能让医生去做一些别的事情来
05:10
might have done something differently when the sick person gets sicker?
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不让病人变的更严重。
05:13
And of course the hindsight bias is perfect.
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当然有事后聪明马后炮的。
05:16
There's always a different scenario that you can sketch out
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当然你总是可以轻松讲一些不同的场景
05:19
where it's possible that something could have been done differently.
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不同事情本来应该能完成的更好一些。
05:21
And yet, we've been trained to squint into this legal microscope,
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但我们已经习惯了眯着眼睛拿着法律的放大镜
05:26
hoping that we can judge any dispute
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希望我们用一个完美社会的标准来
05:29
against the standard of a perfect society,
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判断任何标准。
05:32
where everyone will agree what's fair,
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一个任何人都同意的，公平的
05:34
and where accidents will be extinct,
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不存在偶然事件的
05:37
risk will be no more.
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没有风险的标准。
05:40
Of course, this is Utopia;
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这当然是乌托帮了，
05:42
it's a formula for paralysis, not freedom.
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这是一个瘫痪的，不自由的公式。
05:45
It's not the basis of the rule of law,
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这不是法律的基石，
05:47
it's not the basis of a free society.
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也不是自由社会的基石。
05:50
So, now I have the first of four propositions
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所以，我们来看四大建议的第一个，
05:53
I'm going to leave with you about how you simplify the law:
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我会告诉你你怎么样简化法律。
05:56
You've got to judge law mainly
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你判断法律主要是
05:58
by its effect on the broader society,
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根据它对大社会产生的影响，
06:01
not individual disputes.
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而不是个案纠纷。
06:03
Absolutely vital.
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绝对至关重要。
06:05
So, let's pull back from the anecdotes for a second
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那么，我们再看一条轶事
06:07
and look at our society from high above.
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并且研究一下我们的上层社会。
06:09
Is it working?
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这好使吗?
06:11
What does the macro-data show us?
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宏数据会告诉我们什么？
06:13
Well, the healthcare system has been transformed:
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医疗系统已经完成改革。
06:16
a culture pervaded with defensiveness,
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一个弥漫着自我防守气息的文化。
06:19
universal distrust of the system of justice,
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对系统公正性的普遍不信任。
06:22
universal practice of defensive medicine.
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自我保护性开一些常用药物的处方。
06:25
It's very hard to measure
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衡量这些真的不容易
06:27
because there are mixed motives.
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因为混合的动机太多了。
06:29
Doctors can make more on ordering tests sometimes,
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医生可以花更多的时候在排序测试上。
06:32
and also they no longer even know what's right or wrong.
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并且他们不再知道什么是对的或者错的
06:35
But reliable estimates
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但保守估计
06:37
range between 60 billion and
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会在600亿到2000亿美元的范围
06:39
200 billion dollars per year.
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每年。
06:43
That's enough to provide care to all the people
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这些钱足够给美国境内所有没有医疗保险的人
06:46
in America who don't have it.
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提供免费治疗了。
06:48
The trial lawyers say, "Well, this legal fear
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审判法官说，“对法律的担心
06:50
makes doctors practice better medicine."
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使医生们采用更好的药物。“
06:52
Well that's been studied too, by the Institute of Medicine
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那已经是药品研究所和其它机构的研究成果。
06:54
and others. Turns out that's not the case.
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但这不是重点。
06:57
The fear has chilled professional interaction
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恐惧在专业交互中变的更糟糕，
07:00
so thousands of tragic errors occur
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因此数以千计的杯具发生，
07:03
because doctors are afraid
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因为医生害怕多说话：
07:06
to speak up: "Are you sure that's the right dosage?"
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“你确定这是正确的剂量吗？”
07:09
Because they're not sure,
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因为他们不确定，
07:11
and they don't want to take legal responsibility.
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并且他们不想担负法律责任。
07:14
Let's go to schools.
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让我们去学校吧。
07:16
As we saw with the teacher in Cody, Wyoming,
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就像我们看到的怀俄明州的那位老师一样，
07:19
she seems to be affected by the law.
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她看起来深受法律影响。
07:21
Well it turns out the schools are literally drowning in law.
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这表明学校简直在法律的海洋里溺死了。
07:25
You could have a separate section of a law library
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你可以在法律图书馆按以下法律概念
07:28
around each of the following legal concepts:
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找到单独的一个区域。
07:31
due process, special education,
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正当程序，特殊教育，
07:33
no child left behind,
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不让一个孩子掉队法案，
07:36
zero tolerance, work rules ...
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零容忍，工作守则。
07:38
it goes on. We did a study
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它继续发展。
07:40
of all the rules that affect one school
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我们在纽约对关于所有对学校产生影响的法律
07:43
in New York. The Board of Ed. had no idea.
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做了一个调查。 教育委员会对此并不知情。
07:46
Tens of thousands of discreet rules,
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数十万讲的慎密的条规，
07:48
60 steps to suspend a student from school:
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一个孩子休学需要60个步骤。
07:52
It's a formula for paralysis.
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这是个让人瘫痪的公式。
07:54
What's the effect of that? One is a decline in order.
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结果是什么？其中之一是效率的下降。
07:57
Again, studies have shown
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另外，研究表明
07:59
it's directly attributable
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它直接归咎于
08:01
to the rise of due process.
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正当程序的提升。
08:03
Public agenda did a survey for us a couple of years ago
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公众议程在几年前做了一个调查
08:06
where they found that 43 percent of the high school teachers in America
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美国境内43%的高中老师
08:09
say that they spend at least half of their time
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说他们花了至少一半的时间
08:12
maintaining order in the classroom.
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来维护课堂秩序。
08:15
That means those students are getting half the learning
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这表明这些学生只用了他们规定学习时间的一半，
08:18
they're supposed to, because if one child is disrupting the class
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因为如果一个孩子扰乱课堂秩序，
08:21
no one can learn.
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谁也学不成。
08:23
And what happens when the teacher tries to assert order?
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那么老师在试图维护课程秩序的时候会发生什么呢？
08:27
They're threatened with a legal claim.
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他们被一个法律要求所威胁。
08:29
We also surveyed that. Seventy-eight percent of the middle and high school teachers
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我们还做了调查。美国境内的78%的高中或初中老师
08:32
in America have been threatened by their students
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都被他们的学生
08:35
with violating their rights, with lawsuits
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用侵权起诉来威胁过。
08:37
by their students. They are threatening, their students.
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他们威胁他们的学生。
08:40
It's not that they usually sue,
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他们并不是经常起诉。
08:42
it's not that they would win, but it's an
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他们并不是一定会赢，
08:45
indication of the corrosion of authority.
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但这是权威的瓦解的迹象。
08:48
And how has this system of law worked for government?
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那么这套法律系统是怎么为政府运作的呢？
08:52
It doesn't seem to be working very well does it?
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它的运作情况看起来并不是很好，不是吗？
08:54
Neither in Sacramento nor in Washington.
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在萨克拉门托和华盛顿都很不好。
08:57
The other day at the State of the Union speech,
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在另一天的发表的国情咨文中
08:59
President Obama said,
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总统奥巴马说，
09:01
and I think we could all agree with this goal,
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我想我们都有这个共同的目标，
09:03
"From the first railroads to the interstate highway system,
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“从第一条铁路，到现在的州际高铁，
09:06
our nation has always been the first to compete.
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我们的国家总是第一个完成这样的项目。
09:09
There is no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains."
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没有理由让欧洲和中国拥有世界上最快的火车."
09:14
Well, actually there is a reason:
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事实上确实有一个理由，
09:16
Environmental review has evolved into a process
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环境检查已经上升到标准流程中
09:19
of no pebble left unturned
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十年中的任何主要的工程
09:21
for any major project taking the better part of a decade,
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都千方百计的通过环境检查。
09:25
then followed by years of litigation
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然后是面对那些不喜欢这个项目的人，
09:27
by anybody who doesn't like the project.
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度过数年的诉讼岁月。
09:30
Then, just staying above the Earth for one more second,
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然后，在地球上多呆一秒钟，
09:33
people are acting like idiots,
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人们就表演的像傻蛋一样，
09:36
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
09:37
all across the country.
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全国人民都一样。
09:39
(Applause)
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（掌声）
09:41
Idiots. A couple of years ago,
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傻蛋。 几年之前，
09:43
Broward County, Florida, banned running at recess.
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佛罗里达州布罗瓦郡，颁布法律禁止在休息时间跑动。
09:47
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
09:48
That means all the boys are going to be ADD.
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那意味着所有的男孩子们都会得多动症。
09:51
I mean it's just absolutely
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我觉得这绝对是一个
09:53
a formula for failure.
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失败的公式。
09:55
My favorite, though, are all the warning labels.
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我最喜欢讲的，是那些警告标签。
09:57
"Caution: Contents are hot,"
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警告，这些东西非常烫，
09:59
on billions of coffee cups.
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数亿杯咖啡的杯子上。
10:01
Archeologists will dig us up in a thousand years
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考古学家想在一千年后把我们挖出来
10:04
and they won't know about defensive medicine and stuff,
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并且他们将不知道这些自我保护性的药品和口号，
10:07
but they'll see all these labels, "Contents are extremely hot."
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但他们会看到这些警告，这些东西超级Hot"烫"。
10:10
They'll think it was some kind of aphrodisiac.
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他们会认为这是某种春药。
10:12
That's the only explanation. Because why
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这是杯子上的唯一的解释。
10:15
would you have to tell people that something was actually hot?
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因为你唯一要告诉别人的是什么东西非常非常的Hot”热“。
10:18
My favorite warning was one on a five-inch fishing lure.
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我喜欢的一个警告是五英寸的鱼铒。
10:21
I grew up in the South and whiled away the summers fishing.
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我长在南方并且每年夏天都要钓鱼。
10:24
Five-inch fishing lure, it's a big fishing lure,
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五英寸的鱼铒，这是相当大的鱼饵，
10:26
with a three pronged hook in the back,
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后面带着一个三叉钩，
10:28
and outside it said, "Harmful if swallowed."
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但在外面它说，“吞食有害健康。”
10:31
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
10:38
So, none of these people
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所以，没有人去这样做
10:40
are doing what they think is right.
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他们认为正确的事情。
10:42
And why not? They don't trust the law. Why don't they trust the law?
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那为为什么不？他们不信任法律。他们为什么不信任法律？
10:44
Because it gives us the worst of both worlds:
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因为法律给我们最坏的两种世界。
10:46
It's random -- anybody can sue for almost anything
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它随机。任何人可以起诉几乎是任何东西
10:49
and take it to a jury, not even an effort at consistency --
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并且让它受伤。甚至没有一个一致性。
10:52
and it's also too detailed.
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并且它太详尽了。
10:54
In the areas that are regulated, there are so many rules
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在被法律规范的区域里，
10:57
no human could possibly know it.
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有太多的人类不可能理解的规定。
10:59
Well how do you fix it? We could spend 10,000 lifetimes
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那么你怎么弥补呢?我们可以花1万人一生的时间来
11:01
trying to prune this legal jungle.
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尝试修剪这个热带雨森般复杂的法律。
11:03
But the challenge here is not one of just
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但真正的挑战不是仅仅的去
11:06
amending the law,
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修正法律。
11:08
because the hurdle for success is trust.
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因为成功的最本质原因是信任。
11:12
People -- for law to be the platform for freedom,
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人们，在法律的范围内追寻自由，
11:16
people have to trust it.
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人们必须信任它。
11:19
So, that's my second proposition:
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所以，这是我第二个建议。
11:21
Trust is an essential condition
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信任是自由社会的一个
11:24
to a free society.
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关键的条件。
11:26
Life is complicated enough without legal fear.
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即使除去对法律的恐惧的生活已经够复杂了。
11:29
But law is different than other kinds of uncertainties,
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但法律又是不同于其它不确定因素。
11:31
because it carries with it the power of state.
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因为它象征着国家权利。
11:34
And so the state can come in.
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所以国家可以站出来。
11:36
It actually changes the way people think.
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它实际上改变了人们的思考方式。
11:39
It's like having a little lawyer on your shoulders
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就像是有一个小律师站在你的肩膀，
11:42
all day long, whispering in your ear,
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整天对着你的耳朵窃窃私语，
11:44
"Could that go wrong? Might that go wrong?"
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“这个会出问题吗? 那个可能有问题吗？”
11:46
It drives people from the smart part of the brain --
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它能在很多方面，
11:50
that dark, deep well of the subconscious,
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从很深的潜意识层次，
11:53
where instincts and experience,
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从本能上和经验上，
11:55
and all the other factors of creativity
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以及创新能力上或者判断力上，
11:58
and good judgment are --
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把人们非常聪明伶利变的因阴暗，
12:00
it drives us to the thin veneer of conscious logic.
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它会驱使我们带个意识逻辑的外表。
12:03
Pretty soon the doctor's saying, "Well, I doubt
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过些时间医生会说，“好吧，
12:05
if that headache could be a tumor, but who would protect me
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我怀疑这个头疼可能是一个肿瘤，但如果是，谁会保护我呢?
12:07
if it were? So maybe I'll just order the MRI."
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那么我就让他去做个磁共振(MRI)好了。
12:10
Then you've wasted 200 billion dollars in unnecessary tests.
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所以，你已经在不必要的测试上浪费了2000亿美金。
12:14
If you make people self-conscious
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如果你让你人们去做判断，
12:17
about their judgments, studies show
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研究表明
12:19
you will make them make worse judgments.
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你会让他们做更糟糕的判断。
12:22
If you tell the pianist to think about how she's hitting the notes
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如果你告诉钢琴师当他们演奏时，让他们去考虑自己是如果敲击乐符的，
12:26
when she's playing the piece, she can't play the piece.
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她们就无法演奏下去了。
12:30
Self-consciousness is the enemy of accomplishment.
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自我意识是完成目标的敌人。
12:33
Edison stated it best. He said,
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爱迪生就是最好的例子。 他说，
12:35
"Hell, we ain't got no rules around here,
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"该列，我们这里不要任何规则，
12:37
we're trying to accomplish something."
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我们想真正做点实事儿。
12:39
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
12:41
So, how do you restore trust?
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所以，怎么才能恢复信任？
12:42
Tweaking the law's clearly not good enough,
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改进我们的法律很显然已经不够了。
12:44
and tort reform, which is a great idea,
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改革侵权行为是一个特别好的主意。
12:47
lowers your cost if you're a businessperson,
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可以降低商人的成本，
12:49
but it's like a Band-Aid on this gaping wound of distrust.
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但像是一个急救绷带打在一个不信任的伤口上。
12:52
States with extensive tort reform
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一个有着大量侵权行为改革的国家
12:54
still suffer all these pathologies.
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仍然遭受着这些病因。
12:56
So, what's needed is not just to limit claims,
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所以，我们需要的不仅是有限的声明，
12:59
but actually create a dry ground of freedom.
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而是真正的去创造一片自由之域。
13:02
It turns out that freedom actually has a formal structure.
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这样的结果就是自由实际上是一个正式的结构。
13:06
And it is this:
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并且它是这样：
13:08
Law sets boundaries,
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法律制定界限，
13:10
and on one side of those boundaries are all the things
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一方面这些界限是所有你不能做的东西
13:12
you can't do or must do --
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或者必须做的东西。
13:14
you can't steal, you've got to pay your taxes --
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你不能偷。 你必须缴税。
13:15
but those same boundaries are supposed to define
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但这相同的边界本应该去定义和保护
13:18
and protect a dry ground of freedom.
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自由之域。
13:22
Isaiah Berlin put it this way:
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以赛亚·柏林这么认为，
13:24
"Law sets frontiers, not artificially drawn,
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“法律制定边境，不是人工画出来的，
13:27
within which men shall be inviolable."
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那就是人们应该是不可侵犯的。”
13:31
We've forgotten that second part.
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我们已经忘记了第二部份。
13:33
Those dikes have burst. People wade through law
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像决堤的大坝一样。 人们在法律的世界里跋山涉水呀
13:36
all day long.
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日复一日。
13:38
So, what's needed now
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那么，我们现在要做的
13:40
is to rebuild these boundaries.
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就是重新定义这些边界。
13:43
And it's especially important to rebuild them
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并且对重新定义它们对于法律诉讼
13:45
for lawsuits.
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有着很重要的意义。
13:47
Because what people can sue for establishes the boundaries
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因为人们可以起诉的那些边界
13:50
for everybody else's freedom.
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是别人的自由。
13:52
If someone brings a lawsuit over, "A kid fell off the seesaw,"
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如果有人诉讼，一个孩子在跷跷板上摔下来了，
13:55
it doesn't matter what happens in the lawsuit,
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不管诉讼的结果如何，
13:57
all the seesaws will disappear.
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所有的跷跷板都会消失掉。
13:59
Because no one will want to take the risk of a lawsuit.
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因为没有人愿意担着被起诉的危险。
14:01
And that's what's happened. There are no seesaws, jungle gyms,
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这就是这个世界。 将不在会有跷跷板，攀登架，
14:03
merry-go-rounds, climbing ropes,
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旋转木马，攀登绳，
14:05
nothing that would interest a kid over the age of four,
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大于四岁的孩子们将不再会有乐趣，
14:08
because there's no risk associated with it.
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因为他们的世界没有任何风险。
14:10
So, how do we rebuild it?
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那么，我们如何重新打造它？
14:12
Life is too complex for...
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生命已经太复杂而…
14:14
(Applause)
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（掌声）
14:19
Life is too complex for a software program.
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生命过于复杂了而非一个软件程序能涵盖的。
14:21
All these choices involve value judgments
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所有的这些选择都包含价值判断，
14:23
and social norms, not objective facts.
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和社会规范，而不是客观事实。
14:26
And so here is the fourth proposition.
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那么这里我的第四个建议。
14:29
This is what we have, the philosophy we have to change to.
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这是我们拥有的，我们不得不接受的哲学。
14:31
And there are two essential elements of it:
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并且它的两个关键的元素。
14:34
We have to simplify the law.
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我们不得不简化这个法律。
14:37
We have to migrate from all this complexity
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我们不得不从这些复杂的东西转换成
14:40
towards general principles and goals.
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总体的原则和目标。
14:42
The constitution is only 16 pages long.
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宪法只有16页长。
14:45
Worked pretty well for 200 years.
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已经完美运作了快两百年。
14:47
Law has to be simple enough
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法律必须足够简单
14:49
so that people can internalize it
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所以人们可以进行内部消化
14:52
in their daily choices.
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真正运用在他们的日常生活中。
14:54
If they can't internalize it, they won't trust it.
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如果不能真正把它们内部消化，他们也不会信任它。
14:58
And how do you make it simple?
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那么，怎么才能让它变的更简单一些？
15:00
Because life is complex,
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因为人生是复杂的。
15:02
and here is the hardest and biggest change:
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那么，这里是最难也是最大的改变。
15:05
We have to restore the authority
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我们必须恢复当局对审判
15:07
to judges and officials
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以及官方
15:09
to interpret and apply the law.
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对法律的诠释的权力。
15:11
(Applause)
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（掌声）
15:14
We have to rehumanize the law.
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我们必须把法律重新人道化。
15:17
To make law simple so that you feel free,
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将法律变的更简单，因此你会感觉更自由，
15:20
the people in charge have to be free
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当权的人必须能自由的用他们的判断来
15:22
to use their judgment to interpret and apply the law
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诠释和执行法律
15:25
in accord with reasonable social norms.
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与合理的社会标准保持一致。
15:27
As you're going down, and walking down the sidewalk during the day,
350
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你在大白天的大马路上散步
15:31
you have to think that if there is a dispute,
351
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你必须知道，如果那里有争端出现，
15:34
there's somebody in society who sees it as their job
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如果你的行为合理，
15:38
to affirmatively protect you
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这个社会上应该有人去当成本质工作去
15:40
if you're acting reasonably.
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保护你。
15:42
That person doesn't exist today.
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我们现在没有这个角色。
15:45
This is the hardest hurdle.
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这是最难克服的障碍。
15:48
It's actually not very hard. Ninety-eight percent of cases, this is a piece of cake.
357
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实际上，它不难。98%的案例都是小菜一碟。
15:51
Maybe you've got a claim in small claims court
358
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也许你接到小法庭的一个索赔，
15:53
for your lost pair of pants for $100,
359
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你丢了一条一百美元的裤子。
15:55
but not in a court of general jurisdiction for millions of dollars.
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但不是在一个高级司法权的大法庭上的价值百万的案子。
15:58
Case dismissed without prejudice or refiling in small claims court.
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案例在小法庭上没有偏倚被取消。
16:01
Takes five minutes. That's it,
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五分钟搞定。就这样。
16:03
it's not that hard.
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这并不难。
16:05
But it's a hard hurdle because we got into this legal quicksand
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但难点在于我们已经陷入了法律流沙中
16:09
because we woke up in the 1960s
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因为我们在六十年代唤醒了这些
16:11
to all these really bad values: racism,
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特别邪恶的价值观，种族主义，
16:13
gender discrimination, pollution --
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性别歧视，污染。
16:15
they were bad values. And we wanted to create a legal system
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这些是很邪恶的价值观。并且我们希望创造一个法律系统，
16:18
where no one could have bad values anymore.
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一个人们不再能抱有邪恶价值观的法律系统。
16:22
The problem is, we created a system
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问题是，我们创造了这个系统，
16:24
where we eliminated the right to have good values.
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一个我们把好的价值观也消灭掉的法律系统。
16:26
It doesn't mean that people in authority
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这并不是说当局可以为所欲为。
16:30
can do whatever they want.
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这并不是说当局可以为所欲为。
16:32
They're still bounded by legal goals and principles:
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他们仍然被法律的目标和原则所界定。
16:35
The teacher is accountable to the principal,
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老师对原则负责。
16:38
the judge is accountable to an appellate court,
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法官对上诉法院负责。
16:40
the president is accountable to voters.
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总统对选民负责
16:43
But the accountability's up the line
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但是责任感可以上升到
16:45
judging the decision against the effect on everybody,
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对这个决定对每个人产生的影响来判断。
16:48
not just on the disgruntled person.
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而对于不爽的那个人的影响。
16:51
You can't run a society by the lowest common denominator.
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你不能用最低标准去运行一个社会。
16:55
(Applause)
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（掌声）
17:02
So, what's needed is a basic shift in philosophy.
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那么，我们要做的哲学上的一个基本转化。
17:04
We can pull the plug on a lot of this stuff if we shift our philosophy.
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如果我们转换自己的哲学，我们可以减少很多这样的问题。
17:07
We've been taught that authority is the enemy of freedom.
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我们被教唆的是权威是自由的敌人。
17:10
It's not true. Authority, in fact,
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那是瞎话。事实上，
17:12
is essential to freedom.
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权威是自由的关键。
17:14
Law is a human institution;
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法律是一种人类习俗。
17:16
responsibility is a human institution.
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责任感是一种人类习俗。
17:18
If teachers don't have authority to run the classroom,
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如果老师并没有权威去管理教室，
17:20
to maintain order, everybody's learning suffers.
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去维护秩序，每个人的学习。
17:23
If the judge doesn't have the authority to toss out unreasonable claims,
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如果法官没有权利去拒绝不合理的上诉
17:26
then all of us go through the day looking over our shoulders.
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那么我们会整天心惊胆战。
17:28
If the environmental agency can't decide
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如果环境部门不能决定
17:30
that the power lines are good for the environment,
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哪种电线对环境有利，
17:33
then there's no way to bring the power from the wind farms
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那么我们就没办法将电从风力电站
17:35
to the city.
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输送到城市。
17:37
A free society requires red lights and green lights,
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一个自由的社会一定要有红灯也有绿灯，
17:40
otherwise it soon descends into gridlock.
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否则很快就会交通拥堵。
17:43
That's what's happened to America. Look around.
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这就是美国的现状。 四处看看吧。
17:46
What the world needs now
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我们的世界需要的是，
17:48
is to restore the authority to make common choices.
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恢复机构应该有做选择的权利。
17:51
It's the only way to get our freedom back,
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这是我们夺回自由的唯一的方法。
17:55
and it's the only way to release the energy and passion
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这也是我们唯一需要释放能量和激情的地方
17:58
needed so that we can meet the challenges
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来克服我们的时代面临的挑战。
18:00
of our time. Thank you.
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谢谢你们。
18:02
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Philip K. Howard - Legal activistPhilip K. Howard is the founder of Common Good, a drive to overhaul the US legal system. His new book is 'The Rule of Nobody.'
Why you should listen
We love to laugh at America’s warning-label culture (the bag of airline peanuts that says Caution: Contains Nuts). But more troubling are the everyday acts of silence and loss promoted by the fear of being sued. Your doctor might not speak to you frankly; your kids’ principal might not feel he has the right to remove bad teachers.
Attorney Philip K. Howard founded the nonpartisan group Common Good to combat this culture and reform several key areas of our legal system. Among Common Good’s suggestions: specialized health care courts, which would give lower but smarter awards, and a project with the NYC Board of Ed and the Teachers Union to overhaul the disciplinary system in New York public schools. His new book is The Rule of Nobody: Saving America from Dead Laws and Broken Government.
Philip K. Howard | Speaker | TED.com