来源：《华盛顿邮报》
原文刊登日期：2022年6月8日
Federal judges are among the most powerful — and unaccountable — people in the United States, ruling on contentious disputes with none of the checks that the political branches of government face. This insulates them from political pressure. But it also means they get little pushback from lawyers, clerks and others seeking their favor. Because judicial independence is a vital norm, judges must hold themselves to a high standard.
联邦法官是美国最有权力但又最不负责任的群体之一，他们在处理有争议的纠纷时不受任何政府政治部门所面临的制约。这使他们免受政治压力。但这也意味着，他们很少受到律师、书记员和其他寻求他们帮助的人的拒绝。由于司法独立是一项至关重要的规范，法官必须对自己高标准要求。
Unfortunately, they do not always do so. See, for example, the leaked results of a survey of staff in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The survey found that some employees “have personally experienced repeated incidents of wrongful conduct,” such as sex discrimination and bullying. The survey turned up 57 reports from individuals claiming to have personally experienced problematic behavior, and 134 who say they saw or heard about misconduct.
不幸的是，法官并不总是能保持高标准。例如，看看泄露的美国哥伦比亚特区上诉法院工作人员调查结果。调查发现，一些员工“亲身经历过多次不当行为事件”，比如性别歧视和欺凌。这项调查中，有57份报告来自自称亲身经历过问题行为的人，还有134人表示他们看到或听到过不当行为。
Four, for example, pointed out that D.C Circuit Judge Karen L. Henderson hires only male clerks. Other allegations include yelling at staff, vengeance after an employee had to leave work early for a family emergency and cruel comments. Such issues are not unique to the D.C. Circuit.
例如，有四人指出，特区巡回法院法官卡伦·亨德森只雇佣男性书记员。其他指控还包括对员工大喊大叫，在员工因家庭紧急情况不得不提前下班后报复，以及残忍的评论。这样的问题并非特区巡回法院独有。
Federal judicial clerks and those applying for these elite positions trade intelligence about which judges are unreasonable to staff — even to the point of abuse or harassment. Ambitious young lawyers covet these spots anyway, because they lead to top jobs and big payouts from law firms. Their incentive is to endure the experience, rather than upsetting judges who can determine their futures.
联邦法院书记员和那些申请这些精英职位的人互相交换情报，了解哪些法官对工作人员不讲道理——甚至到了虐待或骚扰的地步。无论如何，有抱负的年轻律师都觊觎联邦法院的工作，因为这样的履历能让他们获得高级职位，并从律师事务所获得巨额薪酬。他们的动机是忍受这段经历，而不是惹恼能够决定他们未来的法官。
Judge Alex Kozinski from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit resigned in 2017 following allegations of sexual misconduct, leading to calls for better workplace protections for federal judicial staff. But D.C. Circuit survey respondents said that the system still relies too much on judges sanctioning colleagues.
2017年，美国第九巡回上诉法院的亚历克斯·科辛斯基法官在受到性骚扰指控后辞职，引发了对联邦法院工作人员更好工作场所保护的呼吁。但哥伦比亚特权巡回法院的调查受访者说，联邦司法系统仍然过于依赖法官对同行的制裁。
Congress has gotten involved. Lawmakers have proposed extending federal antidiscrimination protections to courthouse employees and creating a special counsel to handle misconduct claims. Federal judges decry the proposal as an improper intrusion by the legislative branch on judicial independence; two warned congressional testimony that the proposed system “could be used by the political branches or others to influence, intimidate, harass, or punish judges, or could target its investigative resources at judges based on their decisions.”
国会已经介入。议员提议将联邦反歧视保护扩大到法院雇员，并设立特别顾问来处理不当行为指控。联邦法官谴责该提案是立法部门对司法独立的不当干涉；两名法官在国会证词中警告说，拟议的制度“可能被政治部门或其他人用来影响、恐吓、骚扰或惩罚法官，或者可能根据法官的判决将其调查资源瞄准法官。”
These are serious concerns. For the sake of the legal system’s legitimacy and proper functioning, judges must show in the coming months and years that they can treat everyone — those before the court and those working behind the scenes — with fairness and respect.
些都是严重的问题。为了法律体系的合法性和正常运作，法官们必须在未来的几个月和几年里表明，他们能够公平和尊重地对待所有人——法庭上的人和幕后工作的人。