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Hi, I'm Craig and this is Crash Course Civics
嗨，我是克雷格，这是《政府和政治速成课》。
and today we're gonna look at the basics of a system that affects all our lives: the law.
今天我们要看一个影响我们所有人生活的基础系统：法律。
And no, we're not going to be talking about the laws of thermo-dynamics.
不，我们不会讨论热力学定律。
That's Hank's show.
这是汉克秀。
Though we will be bringing the heat, ha!
虽然我们会带来热量，哈!
The law affects you even if you never committed a crime
即使你从未犯罪，法律也会影响你
because there's so much more to the legal system than just criminal justice,
因为法律体系不仅仅是刑事司法，
and even though we're going to focus mainly on courts, the law is everywhere.
尽管我们主要关注法庭，但法律无处不在。
If you don't believe me, read the user license on your next new piece of software,
如果你不相信我，请阅读下一款新软件的用户许可，
or if you fly anywhere read the back of your plane ticket.
或者如果你坐飞机去任何地方，请阅读机票背面。
Hopefully won't be more entertaining than what you're watching now, but that's examples of the law.
希望不会比你们现在看到的更有趣，但这就是法律的例子。
In general, courts have three basic functions, only one of which you probably learned about in your history class.
一般来说，法院有三个基本功能，其中只有一个你可能在历史课上学过。
The first thing that courts do is settle disputes.
第一个功能是解决纠纷。
In pre-modern history (which is way easier to understand than post-modern history), kings performed this function,
在前现代史(比后现代史更容易理解)中，国王履行了这一职能，
but as states got bigger and more powerful it became much easier to have specialized officials decide important issues like who owned the fox you caught on someone else's land.
但是随着国家变得越来越大，越来越强大，让专门的官员来决定一些重要的问题就变得容易多了，比如你在别人的土地上抓到的狐狸属于谁。
Or what does the fox say, which was disputed a lot back then.
或者狐狸到底怎么叫的，这在当时是有争议的。
The second thing the courts do is probably the one you heard about in school,
法院做的第二件事可能是你在学校里听说过的，
or on television, or perhaps while studying for the standardized test, and that's interpret the laws.
或者是在电视上，或者是在为标准化考试学习的时候，也就是解释法律。
This becomes increasingly important when you actually try to read laws,
当你试着读法律的时候，这变得越来越重要，
or when you realize that legislators are often not as they might be when writing laws in the first place.
或者当你意识到立法者通常不像他们最初写法律时那样。
Take a look at the Affordable Care Act.
看看平价医疗法案。
There are a few famous careless errors in that.
这里面有几个著名的粗心错误。
Finally courts create expectations for future actions.
最后，法院为未来的行动创造了预期。
This is very important if you want to do business with someone.
如果你想和某人做生意，这一点非常重要。
If you know that you'll be punished for cheating a potential business client, you're less likely to do it.
如果你知道你会因为欺骗一个潜在的商业客户而受到惩罚，你就不太可能去做。
Still you might, 'cause there are a lot of jerks out there who would.
但你还是有可能的，因为有很多笨蛋会这么做。
Are you one of them?
你是他们中的一员吗?
Don't be!
不要成为笨蛋！
At the same time if you know that people will be punished for cheating you you're more likely to do business.
同时，如果你知道人们会因为欺骗你而受到惩罚，你就更有可能做生意。
And it's courts that create the expectation that business will be conducted fairly.
而正是法院创造了商业将被公平经营的期望。
Interpreting the laws can help this too,
解释法律也能帮助解决这个问题，
since the interpretations are public and they set expectations that everyone can understand and know what the law means and how it applies and then world peace.
因为这些解释是公开的，而且他们设定了期望，每个人都能理解和知道法律是什么，它是如何适用的，然后世界和平。
No more law breaking ever.
再也没有违法行为了。
The first thing to remember about courts in the U.S.
首先要记住的是美国法院
is that most legal action, if it occurs in court at all, occurs in state court.
大多数法律诉讼，如果是在法庭上进行的，都是在州法院进行的。
And if it occurs at night, it occurs in Night Court.
如果发生在晚上，就在夜间法庭处理。
Because this is mainly a series about federal government,
因为这是一个关于联邦政府的系列，
and not Indiana government or sitcoms about court in New York, I'm going to focus mainly on the federal court system which has four main characteristics.
而不是印第安纳州的政府，也不是关于纽约法院的情景喜剧，所以我将主要关注联邦法院系统，它有四个主要特点。
One, the federal court system is separate from the other branches of government.
第一，联邦法院系统与政府的其他部门是分开的。
The executive could do the job, just like kings used to but we have separation of powers so we don't have to be at the mercy of kings.
行政人员可以做这项工作，就像过去的国王一样但是我们有权力分立所以我们不必受国王的支配。
Have you seen Game of Thrones?
你看过《权力的游戏》吗?
Two, the federal courts are hierarchical, with the Supreme Court at the top and turtles all the way down.
第二，联邦法院是有等级的，最高法院在最高，海龟在最下面。
Nope -- not turtles -- sorry I meant lower courts.
不，不是海龟，抱歉我指的是地方法院。
What this means is that when a lower court makes a decision it can be appealed to a higher court that can either affirm or overturn the lower court's decision.
这意味着，当下级法院做出决定时，可以向上级法院提出上诉，上级法院可以确认或推翻下级法院的决定。
The third feature of federal courts is that they are able to perform judicial review over laws passed by Congress and state legislatures, and over executive actions.
联邦法院的第三个特点是，能够对国会和州立法机构通过的法律以及行政行动进行司法审查。
And the fourth aspect of federal court system is that you should know that the federal judges are appointed for life, and their salaries can't be reduced.
你应该知道联邦法院制度的第四个特点是联邦法官是终身任命的，且工资不能减少。
This is to preserve their independence from politics.
这是为了维护他们的政治独立性。
Sounds like a pretty sweet deal.
听起来是个不错的交易。
Remember when I told you that the legislature makes the laws?
还记得我告诉你立法机关制定法律吗?
Well, that was true, but it's also not the whole story.
这是真的，但也不是全部。
Legislatures both state and national make laws and these written laws are called statutes.
州立法机关和国家立法机关都制定法律，这些成文法律被称为成文法。
In continental Europe those are pretty much all the laws they have.
在欧洲大陆，这几乎是他们所有的法律。
Statutes.
法令。
Statutes everywhere!
法令无处不在!
And statues.
还有雕像。
That place is filled with art.
那个地方充满了艺术
They had the Renaissance there, y'know?
那里有文艺复兴，你知道吗?
But in the U.S. and England, which is where we got the idea, we have something called common law,
但在美国和英国，也就是我们产生这种想法的地方，我们有一种叫做普通法的东西，
which consists of the past decisions of courts that influence future legal decisions.
普通法法院过去的判决组成，影响未来的法律判决。
The key to common law is the idea that a prior court decision sets a precedent that constrains future courts.
普通法的关键在于，以前的法院判决会设定一个先例，限制未来的法院。
Basically if one court makes a decision, all other courts in the same jurisdiction have to apply that decision, whether they like it or not.
基本上，如果一个法院做出了一个决定，那么在同一管辖范围内的所有其他法院都必须适用这个决定，不管他们喜欢与否。
The collection of those decisions by judges becomes the common law.
法官对这些判决的收集成为普通法。
I don't have to have a reason to punch the eagle.
我没有理由打老鹰。
I should probably point out what courts actually do and explain that there are two different types of courts that can make civil law.
我应该指出法院实际上是做什么的并解释有两种不同类型的法院可以制定民法。
What differentiates the two types of courts is their jurisdiction, which basically means the set of cases that they're authorized to decide.
区分这两种法院类型的是它们的管辖权，这基本上意味着其有权决定的案件种类。
Trial courts are also called courts of original jurisdiction.
初审法院又称原审法院。
These are the ones you see on TV and they actually do two things.
这些是你在电视上看到的它们实际上做两件事。
First, they hear evidence and determine what actually happened when there's a dispute.
首先，他们听取证据，并确定发生争议时实际发生了什么。
This is called deciding the facts of the case.
这称之为决定案件事实。
Not everything that happened or that may be important qualifies as a fact in a court case.
并不是所有发生的或者可能是重要的事情都能成为法庭案件中的事实。
Those are determined by the rules of evidence, which are complicated and would really slow down an episode of Law and Order.
这些都是由证据规则决定的，这些规则很复杂，会真正减缓法律和秩序的发展。
After the trial court hears the facts of a case it decides the outcome by applying the relevant law.
初审法院审理案件后，依照有关法律的规定，决定案件的结果。
What law they apply will depend on statutes and in some cases what other courts have said in similar situations.
他们所适用的法律将取决于法规，在某些情况下还取决于其他法院在类似情况下的说法。
In other words the common law.
换句话说就是普通法。
You might have noticed that I've been referring to courts, not judges or juries, because not all trials have juries.
你可能已经注意到我指的是法院，而不是法官或陪审团，因为不是所有的审判都有陪审团。
Bench trials have only a judge who determines the facts and the law.
法庭审判只有一个法官，他决定事实和法律。
Besides, who decides what in a court case isn't really that important.
此外，谁来决定法庭案件的内容并不是那么重要。
More than 90% of cases never go to court by the way, they just get settled by lawyers out of court.
90%以上的案件从来没有上过法庭，只是由律师在庭外解决。
But say you actually go to court and you lose.
但是如果你真的上了法庭而且你输了。
Naturally, you'd be upset.
你肯定会感到沮丧。
Especially if you're a sore loser, like me.
尤其是当你像我一样输不起的时候。
Shut up.
闭嘴。
You have a choice.
你可以选择。
You can give up and go back to your normal, loser life or you can appeal the trial court decision to a higher court.
你可以放弃，回到正常的、失败的生活，或者你可以向上级法院上诉。
An appeals court that has, you guessed it, appellate jurisdiction.
上诉法院有上诉管辖权。
Did you actually guess that?
你真的猜到了吗?
That'd be amazing.
那太神奇了。
Appeals courts don't hear facts -- who wants those -- they just decide questions of law so you don't have to bring witnesses or present evidence, just arguments.
上诉法庭不听取事实——谁想听呢——他们只决定法律问题，所以你不需要带证人或出示证据，只需要辩论。
In most cases, if you want to bring a successful appeal, you need to show that there was something wrong with the procedure of your trial.
在大多数情况下，如果你想上诉成功，你需要证明你的审判程序有问题。
Maybe the judge allowed the jury to hear evidence they shouldn't have heard, maybe one of the jurors was a cyborg.
也许法官允许陪审团听取他们不应该听到的证据，也许陪审员中有一个是半机械人。
Here's the way that these courts connect to what I was saying before about common and statutory law.
这就是这些法院与我之前所说的普通法和成文法之间的联系。
Most common law is made by appeals courts.
大多数普通法是由上诉法院制定的。
And because appeals courts have larger jurisdiction than trial courts, appeals decisions are much more important than trial court decisions.
由于上诉法院的管辖权比初审法院大，上诉裁决比初审法院的裁决重要得多。
So now I'm going to talk about the three types of law, and it's gonna get confusing.
现在我要讲三种类型的律法，它会让人感到困惑。
We should probably go to the Thought Bubble for some nice, compelling, intriguing animations.
我们可能应该用思想泡泡，很棒的、引人注目的、有趣的动画。
The two main types of law are basically the Bruce Banner of law.
两种主要类型的法律基本上是布鲁斯旗帜的法律。
They're the criminal law and civil law, but they can sometimes morph into the Incredible Hulk of laws: public law.
它们是刑法和民法，但有时也会演变成不可思议的绿巨人法律：公法。
Public law, smash abuse of government authority!
公法，政府权力的粉碎滥用!
If you watch TV or movies, or read John Grisham novels, you're probably familiar with criminal law.
如果你看电视或电影，或读约翰·格里森姆的小说，你可能熟悉刑法。
Criminal laws are almost always statutes written by legislatures, which means that there is an actual law for you to break.
刑法几乎都是由立法机关制定的法律，这就意味着有一部法律是你可以违反的。
In most states the criminal laws are called the penal codes.
大部分州称刑法为“刑事法典”。
In a criminal dispute -- and it's a dispute because the government says you broke the law and you will say you didn't –
在刑事纠纷中——这是一场纠纷，因为政府说你违法了，而你会说你没有违法——
the government is called the prosecution and the person accused of committing the crime is called the defendant.
政府被称为控方，被指控犯罪的人被称为被告
Almost all criminal cases happen at the state level and for this reason it's hard to know exactly what is or what is not a crime in each state.
几乎所有的刑事案件都发生在州一级，因此很难确切知道在每个州什么是犯罪，什么不是。
Although murder is a crime everywhere.
虽然谋杀在任何地方都是犯罪。
There are also some federal crimes like tax evasion, mail fraud, and racketeering.
还有一些联邦犯罪，如逃税、邮件诈骗和敲诈勒索。
If you're suing someone or being sued, you're in the realm of civil law.
如果你在起诉某人或被起诉，你就进入了民法领域。
Civil cases arise from disputes between individuals, or between individuals and the government,
民事案件源于个人之间或个人与政府之间的纠纷，
when one party, the plaintiff, claims that the other party, the defendant, has caused an injury that can be fixed or remedied.
也就是原告一方，声称另一方，即被告，已经造成了可以修复或补救的伤害。
If the plaintiff proves his or her case the defendant must pay damages.
如果原告证明他或她的案件，被告必须支付损害赔偿金。
If you lose a civil case you don't go to prison or jail in most circumstances, but you may end up losing lots of money, and that sucks.
如果你输掉了一场民事诉讼，大多数情况下你不会进监狱，也不会进监狱，但你最终可能会失掉很多钱，这很糟糕。
I love money.
我爱钱。
Cases about contracts, property, and personal injuries, also called torts, are examples of civil law.
有关合同、财产和人身伤害的案件，也称为侵权案件，都是民法的例子。
So under certain circumstances a civil or criminal case can become public law.
因此，在某些情况下，民事或刑事案件可以成为公法。
This happens when either the defendant or plaintiff can show that the powers of government or the rights of citizens under the Constitution or federal law is involved in the case.
这种情况发生在被告或原告都能证明涉及宪法或联邦法律规定的政府权力或公民权利的情况下。
Also if the law gets exposed to gamma rays.
而且如果法律暴露在伽马射线下。
Law, smash!
法律,粉碎!
For example, in a criminal case where the defendant claims that the civil rights were violated by the police, the decision can become public law.
例如，在刑事案件中，被告声称警察侵犯了公民权利，该决定可以成为公法。
Thanks Thought Bubble.
感谢思想泡泡。
So those are the basics of the court system in the U.S.
这些就是美国法院系统的基础
And you can see that there's a lot to keep straight.
你可以看到有很多东西需要保持正直。
There are types of courts, basically trial courts and appeals courts, on both the state and federal level.
法院有很多种，基本上是初审法院和上诉法院，在州和联邦一级都有。
And there are types of laws, basically statutory and common laws.
法律有很多种，基本上是成文法和普通法。
The fact that we have both state and federal statutory law is an example of federalism in action.
我们有州和联邦的成文法，这是联邦制在起作用的一个例子。
The U.S.unlike most other nations has both statutory and common law, but most of the time when we're talking about federal laws we're in the realm of statutes, or maybe the Constitution.
美国不像大多数其他国家既有成文法也有习惯法，但大多数时候当我们谈论联邦法律时，我们是在成文法领域，或者可能是宪法领域。
When you study American government, most of the cases you read about are examples of appeals and of public law.
当你学习美国政府时，你读到的大多数案例都是上诉和公法的例子。
How this all works in practice is even more complicated.
这一切在实践中的运作就更复杂了。
And the adaptability of the American legal fabric allows statutes to stretch to fit the growing and changing American society.
美国法律结构的适应性使其能够适应不断发展和变化的美国社会。
Much like Bruce Banner's incredibly elastic pants.
很像布鲁斯·班纳的弹性裤。
Thanks for watching.
谢谢收看。
I'll see you next time.
下次见。
I'm getting angry!
我很生气！
I'm not wearing elastic pants!
我没穿弹性裤!
Crash Course Government and Politics is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios.
政府与政治速成班是与PBS数字工作室联合制作的。
Support for Crash Course US Government comes from Voqal.
美国政府对速成课程的支持来自Voqal。
Voqal supports non-profits that use technology and media to advance social equity.
Voqal支持利用技术和媒体促进社会公平的非营利组织。
Learn more about their mission and initiatives at voqal.org.
更多关于他们的使命和倡议，请访问voqal.org。
Crash Course was made with the help of these private contractors.
速成班是在这些惊人绿巨人的帮助下开办的。
Thanks for watching.
感谢收看。
