Standing Up for ‘so-called’ Law

为 ‘所谓的’法律挺身而出

By Martha Minow and Robert Post   FEBRUARY 10, 2017

(来源: The Boston Global.            译文分享：抚今追昔 2/13/2017)

Last Saturday, President Trump tweeted, “The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!” In mocking Judge James L. Robart, the federal district court judge who stayed the president’s executive order banning travel for individuals from seven predominantly Muslim countries, Trump risks making an enemy of the law and the Constitution. He then expressed contempt for the deliberations of the three-member appellate court convened to review Robart’s order, calling the legal argument “disgraceful,” and remarking that a “bad high school student would understand this” — before the appellate panel unanimously left Robart’s order in place.

上星期六，特朗普总统在维特这样写到，“这个所谓的法官的意见，本质是脱离我们国家的法制，是谎谬的，将被推翻！” 意在嘲讽法官詹姆斯·罗伯特，一名联邦地区法院法官宣布暂停执行禁止七个主要穆斯林国家的人进入美国的总统行政命令，特朗普挺而走险要以法律和宪法为敌。接着，他对上级法院审理罗伯特的命令的三位法宫的议决表示蔑视，称其法律论据“可耻”，并指出“连上高中的坏学生都会理解这一点” - 三位审议法官都沒有对罗伯特的命令提出异议。

Now Trump is attacking anyone who calls him to account — senators, scientists, the civil service, the media, and the Democratic Party, to name a few. His approach divides the world between friends and enemies, vividly reminding us of the political philosophy of notorious theorist Carl Schmitt. Politics, Schmitt said, was an existential struggle for survival that requires us to destroy those who oppose us. It is no surprise, therefore, that Trump tells us that he is in a “running war” with the media, and that Trump’s trusted adviser, Stephen Bannon, instructs the press to “keep its mouth shut and just listen for while.”
现在特朗普攻击所有要他承担责任的人，包括参议员，科学家，公务员，媒体和民主党。他的做法就是将世界分为朋友和敌人，生动地提醒我们关于臭名昭著的卡尔·施密特的政治哲学理论。施密特说，政治是一种求生存的斗争，我们必须去摧毁那些反对我们的人。因此不足为怪的是，特朗普告诉我们，他正在与媒体进行“战争”，特朗普最信赖的顾问斯蒂芬·班农指示新闻界“要闭嘴，仅仅听话而已”。

Muslims are the latest enemy on Trump’s hit list. His recent executive order was plainly drafted to appeal to his supporters during the campaign. Because such a shocking proposal would violate sacred American traditions protecting religious freedom and nondiscrimination, he crafted the executive order in the close confines of the White House and refused to permit the relevant federal agencies with legal expertise — Homeland Security, Defense, State, Justice — to vet the order. The evident goal was to maximize the political impact of the order while minimizing the reasonable restraints that a respect for law might impose.      

穆斯林是特朗普要打击名单上的最新敌人。他最近的行政命令显然是迎合在竞选期间他是如此呼吁而得到的支持者。然而这样一个令人震惊的建议将违反保护宗教自由和不搞种族歧视这样神圣的美国传统，他在白宫内部制定了如此行政命令，拒绝接受具有法律专长的相关联邦机构 - 国家安全部，国防部，国务院，司法部 - 来共同审查这个指令。很明显，他的目标是最大限度地行使总统命令的政治影响，同时最大限度地减少因为尊重法律而可能施加的合理权力限制。

The executive order produced pointless confusion and massive heartbreak. It caused untold and needless suffering among the more than 100,000 affected by the administration’s secret revocation of already-granted visas. Although the White House initially announced that only 109 persons had been affected by the order, the administration’s staggeringly inaccurate account of the facts can most charitably be explained by a cruel indifference to the order’s human consequences. The sufferings of Muslims apparently don’t count once they are included on Trump’s growing enemy list.
这个总统行政命令引发出毫无意义的混乱和令人万分悲伤。在政府秘密撤销已经批准的签证因而受影响的10万多人中间，造成了无法言说和没有必要的痛苦。虽然白宫最初宣布只有109人受到该命令的影响，但政府对事实令人吃惊的不准确叙述，最能使人信服地解释为政府对此命令会给人类带来残酷后果而漠不关心。显然一旦穆斯林被包括在特朗普那还在增长的敌人名单上，他们的苦难可以被忽视。

Trump’s executive order feeds the “clash of civilizations” narrative used by Islamic radicals to recruit those, including disaffected American citizens, who would attack this country. It turns the United States from a shining beacon into a scene of religious and ethnic discrimination. It is no accident that anti-Semitism and reports of hate crimes are on the rise.

特朗普的行政命令向伊斯兰激进分子提供可以用来招募那些攻击这个国家的人而使用的“文明冲突”说法，其中包括对政府不满的美国公民。它使美国从闪亮的灯塔变成宗教和种族歧视的场地。毫无意外现在反犹太主义和仇恨犯罪的报道频繁而出。

We are deans of respected law schools. We have dedicated our professional lives to the proposition that law overrides violence with reason. Law stands for what we have in common, not merely what divides us. Law respects disagreement; it patiently considers evidence and advocacy; it engages with the views of all. Each person — not just each citizen — is equal before the law. Created in ancient times to terminate endless cycles of vengeance and retribution, law substitutes official, publicly justified sanctions for animosity and enmity.

我们是受人尊敬的法学院的院长。奉献我们的毕生职责为了一个命题，理性地运用法律来制裁

暴力。法律代表着我们共同的东西，而不是使我们分裂的东西。法律尊重不同观点; 耐心地考虑证据和合理倡导; 它吸取了所有人的意见。每个人 - 不仅仅是每个公民 - 在法律面前都是平等的。创建于古时代，用以终止无休止的复仇和报复这样的恶循环，法律取代官方，公开合理地制裁仇恨和敌意。

This is what is so radically disturbing about Trump’s attack on Judge James L. Robart, the George W. Bush appointee who temporarily suspended the enforcement of the executive order. If Trump believes he can make an enemy of the law and of the Constitution, then he has truly become a foe of the Republic, despite the oath he swore at his inauguration. The craft and professional culture of law is what makes politics possible; it is what keeps politics from spiraling into endless violence. By questioning the legitimacy and authority of judges, Trump seems perilously close to characterizing the law as simply one more enemy to be smashed into submission. At risk are the legal practices and protections that guard our freedom and our safety from the mob violence that destroyed democracies in the 1930s.

小布什总统时期任命的罗伯特宣布暂时停止执行总统行政命令，而特朗普对法官詹姆斯·罗伯特的攻击使人极端焦虑。如果特朗普相信他能够成为法律和宪法的敌人，那么尽管他在就职典礼上宣誓就职，他还是会成为美国的敌人。法律的专业独立才能使政治成为可能; 才可使政治不成为无止境的暴力斗争。质疑法官的合法性和权威，特朗普似乎危险地接近于将法律描述为另一个敌人并要被砸碎。我们的法律实践处在危险之中，我们要监护我们的自由和我们的安全以免受如1930年代那股摧毁民主国家的暴行。

It is time for all who care about this nation to worry when the nation’s most powerful office is used to intimidate the institutions of law that have maintained American stability and prosperity since the founding of the Republic. Trump’s attack on the “so-called” Judge Robart and his “ridiculous” order exposes just how fragile our democracy is. The President’s own nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch, has called Trump’s attacks on courts “disheartening” and “demoralizing.” We must be vigilant to preserve what makes America precious: the thirst for freedom and fairness, the demands of responsibility and cooperation, the solidarity that somehow makes e pluribus unum. Law is an essential medium of these virtues. If we are to keep the rule of law, it must not be a partisan question; it must not be the concern simply of lawyers. We must all defend it, passionately and whole-heartedly. Without the rule of law, we may have a “so-called” president who has in fact become a tyrant. Fundamentally, this moment is not about Trump. It is about all of us.
现在是所有关心这个国家的人应该忧虑的时候了，因为国家最强大的总统府竟被用来恐吓从美国成立以来就保持国家稳定和繁荣的法律体制。特朗普对“所谓”法官罗伯特和他的“谎谬”法令的攻击暴露了我们的民主是多么脆弱。连总统自已提名的最高法院大法官Neil Gorsuch也表示，特朗普对法院的攻击令人“伤心”和“沮丧”。我们必须提高警惕，保护美国应有的特征：渴求自由和公平，推行责任与合作，只有团结起来才能合众为一 (译者注：e pluribus unum  拉丁文，合众为一，是印在美国国徽上的格言之一，出现在国徽的正面)。法律是这些特征的基石。如果我们要坚持法治，那就与党派问题无关; 法律不应该仅仅由律师们来关注。我们必须全心全意地捍卫法冶。没有法治，我们可能会有一个“所谓”的总统而事实上的暴君。从根本上说，这不是针对特朗普的问题，这是影响我们所有人的关键时刻。

Martha Minow is the dean and professor of law at Harvard Law School. Robert Post is the dean and professor of law at Yale Law School.

玛莎·米诺是哈佛法学院院长和法学教授。罗伯特·波特是耶鲁法学院的院长和法学教授。

Editor’s Note: At the authors’ request, this piece has been updated since its original print publication.
编者按：根据作者的要求，这篇文章自从出版以后又有所更新。