How to Participate in Your Own Legal Defense | Lam Ho | TED

Translator: Nauka N. Prasadini Reviewer: Indah Setiawan

I'm a lawyer based in Chicago,

Saya seorang pengacara yang berbasis di Chicago,

and two months ago I represented a Vietnamese immigrant woman

dan dua bulan yang lalu, saya mewakili seorang wanita imigran asal Vietnam

in her divorce.

dalam kasus perceraiannya.

As she was testifying about how her husband brutally raped her,

Saat ia bersaksi tentang bagaimana suaminya memperkosanya secara brutal,

the judge repeatedly told her to stop speaking.

sang hakim berulang kali menyuruhnya untuk berhenti bicara.

She should only speak when I asked her a question.

Dia hanya boleh berbicara saat saya bertanya padanya.

Can you imagine having to publicly share one of the most painful,

Bisakah Anda bayangkan berbagi momen yang paling menyakitkan dan traumatis

traumatic moments in your life

dalam hidup Anda secara publik,

and being told over and over again to basically shut up?

dan berulang kali diperintahkan diam?

It felt so wrong, but also so familiar for me.

Ini terasa sangat salah, tetapi juga sangat familiar bagi saya.

My mother,

Ibu saya,

she had no say in her divorce.

beliau tidak bisa bersuara atas perceraiannya.

She didn't have a lawyer,

Dia tidak punya pengacara,

so she signed papers giving away everything

jadi dia menandatangani surat-surat, melepaskan segalanya

because she thought she would otherwise be deported back to Vietnam.

karena dia mengira akan dideportasi ke Vietnam.

I thought by becoming a lawyer,

Saya pikir dengan menjadi pengacara,

I could help people like my mother.

saya bisa membantu orang seperti Ibu saya.

But then I realized I was actually part of the problem.

Tetapi kemudian saya sadar sebenarnya saya bagian dari masalahnya.

As lawyers, we take over speaking for our clients.

Sebagai pengacara, kami mengambil alih suara klien kami.

Dan dalam prosedur pengadilan,

And courtroom procedures,

rules of evidence means that we have all the power

aturan bukti, berarti kami memiliki kekuasaan

in what happens in their cases.

atas yang terjadi pada kasus mereka.

We take terrible situations from people's lives

Kami membawa kondisi terburuk dalam kehidupan masyarakat

and we translate it into legal language.

dan menerjemahkannya ke dalam bahasa hukum.

But, in doing so,

Tetapi, karenanya,

we rewrite our clients as caricatures.

kami menulis ulang kisah klien kami seperti karikatur.

The most helpless, most victimized versions of themselves.

Versi mereka yang paling tidak berdaya dan menjadi korban.

Inilah sistem hukum Amerika.

This is the American legal system.

And that's why, eight years ago,

Dan itu mengapa delapan tahun lalu,

I founded Beyond Legal Aid

saya mendirikan Beyond Legal Aid

in the belief that it doesn't have to be this way,

dengan keyakinan bahwa hukum tidak harus seperti ini

and lawyers can actually change it, working within,

dan pengacara bisa mengubahnya dengan bekerja dari dalam,

making it so that clients can speak for themselves.

membuat klien dapat berbicara untuk diri mereka sendiri.

How does this work?

Bagaimana caranya?

First, instead of working nine to five in offices downtown,

Pertama, alih-alih bekerja dari pagi hingga sore di kantor,

we travel, go to our clients where they live.

kami bepergian, pergi ke tempat klien kami tinggal.

And during evenings,

Dan di saat petang,

nights and weekends when they are available.

pada malam atau akhir pekan saat mereka punya waktu luang.

And they can be active participants in the legal process.

Dan mereka bisa menjadi partisipan aktif dalam proses hukum mereka.

Next, let me share a little secret.

Lalu, izinkan saya berbagi rahasia ini.

Well, at least for the non-lawyers.

Yah, setidaknya bagi para non-pengacara.

Attorneys like to be in charge.

Pengacara suka memegang kendali.

We go to law school,

Kami belajar di sekolah hukum,

we hang up fancy law degrees, and we wear fancy suits --

kami pasang sarjana hukum yang mewah, dan memakai setelan mewah --

obviously much fancier than what I’m wearing --

tentu saja lebih mewah dari yang saya pakai --

because we want to be in control.

karena kami ingin punya kendali.

But it’s our clients whose lives are being judged

Namun, justru klien kami yang hidupnya terhakimi

and impacted by what I do.

dan terdampak atas pekerjaan saya.

They need to be full partners in charge of their own cases.

Mereka harus menjadi rekan penuh dalam menangani kasus mereka.

We can give advice,

Kita bisa memberi saran,

empower them to navigate the legal system.

memberdayakan mereka dalam sistem hukum.

But ultimately,

Namun pada akhirnya,

we need to follow their lead and defer to their decisions.

kita harus mengikuti arahan mereka dan tunduk pada keputusan mereka.

Let me give you an example.

Saya akan memberi satu contoh.

One of our clients, let's call him Atticus,

Salah satu klien kami, sebut saja Atticus,

he was facing deportation in a case where the law was completely against us.

terancam dideportasi dalam kasus di mana hukum tak berpihak pada kami.

Atticus had been in ICE detention for several months

Atticus ditahan di pusat detensi ICE selama beberapa bulan

because the immigration judge denied him bond.

karena hakim imigrasi menolak membebaskannya.

So he and OCAD, the Organized Communities Against Deportation,

Jadi ia dan Organisasi Komunitas Penentang Deportasi (OCAD),

the community group we were working with on his case,

kelompok masyarakat yang bekerja sama dengan kami dalam kasusnya,

wanted to try for bond a second time.

ingin mendapat pembebasan untuk kedua kalinya.

I and the other lawyers were like,

Saya dan para pengacara lainnya berkata,

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

“Tidak, tidak, tidak, tidak.

You can't do that.

Anda tak bisa melakukannya.

The law is bad,

Undang-undangnya buruk,

the judge has already said no once,

hakim sudah sekali mengatakan tidak,

and we don't want to piss him off by questioning his decision."

dan kami tidak ingin membuatnya marah dengan mempertanyakan keputusannya.”

But they wanted to proceed, so we deferred to their decision.

Tetapi mereka ingin melakukannya, jadi kami tunduk pada keputusan mereka.

However, instead of my sharing his situation on his behalf,

Namun, alih-alih mewakili dirinya untuk menyampaikan kondisinya,

we convinced the judge to hear a live conversation

kami berhasil membujuk hakim untuk mendengar percakapan langsung

between Atticus and his US citizen son,

antara Atticus dan putranya dari AS,

let's call him Jem.

sebut saja namanya Jem.

Jem spoke about how he wanted to commit suicide

Jem berbicara tentang bagaimana dia ingin bunuh diri

because he couldn't live without his father anymore.

karena dia tidak bisa hidup tanpa ayahnya.

Atticus broke down,

Atticus menangis,

sobbing in despair

terisak-isak, putus asa,

because he felt responsible for what was happening with his son

karena ia merasa bertanggung jawab atas apa yang terjadi pada anaknya,

and yet couldn't be there for him.

tetapi tak bisa berada di sisinya.

The judge was forced to hear directly

Hakim itu dipaksa untuk langsung mendengar

how Atticus and Jem loved each other and how much they needed each other.

bagaimana Atticus dan Jem menyayangi dan membutuhkan satu sama lain.

He heard it unadulterated, in full, without any questions,

Dia mendengarnya tanpa cela, dengan lengkap, tanpa pertanyaan,

without any interruptions by any lawyers.

tanpa interupsi dari pengacara manapun.

Unfortunately, he denied bond a second time.

Sayangnya, dia menolak pembebasan untuk kedua kalinya.

But --

Tetapi --

and of course there’s a “but,” right,

tentu saja ada “tapi,” ’kan?

otherwise, I wouldn't be telling you this story.

Kalau tidak, saya tak akan menceritakan ini.

(Laughter)

(Suara tawa)

The judge then cancelled Atticus’s deportation.

Hakim membatalkan putusan deportasi Atticus.

I cannot tell you how utterly,

Saya tidak bisa gambarkan betapa sangat mengejutkan kemenangan itu.

absolutely shocking that legal victory was.

(Applause)

(Tepuk tangan)

I was like, "Oh my God, I can't believe this happened."

Saya seperti, “Astaga, aku tak percaya ini terjadi.”

And ...

Dan ...

I’m going to say something now, which lawyers don’t say very often

saya ingin menyampaikan sesuatu, yang mungkin jarang disampaikan pengacara,

but probably should say a lot more often.

tetapi perlu lebih sering disampaikan.

I was wrong.

Saya salah.

My client and his community, they knew better.

Klien saya dan komunitasnya lebih tahu daripada saya.

If we had not followed their lead and tried for bond a second time,

Jika kami tak mengikuti arahan mereka dan mencoba pembebasan kedua kalinya,

the judge would have never heard Atticus tell his own story

sang hakim tidak akan mendengar kisah Atticus secara langsung

and be so moved by what was going on

dan sangat tersentuh dengan apa yang terjadi

that he defied the law

sehingga ia melampaui hukum

to allow Atticus to stay in the country with his son.

untuk memperbolehkan Atticus tetap di negara ini bersama putranya.

Atticus being able to tell his own story,

Atticus dapat menyampaikan kisahnya,

created a decision that was impossible,

menghasilkan putusan yang mustahil,

at least what we thought as attorneys.

setidaknya bagi kami sebagai pengacara.

Atticus sharing and talking his own case

Atticus yang berbagi dan berbicara atas kasusnya

created justice where the law was wrong.

melahirkan keadilan di saat hukum salah.

And that's why the legal system has to change,

Dan itulah mengapa sistem hukum harus berubah,

so that people like Atticus can share their own stories,

sehingga orang-orang seperti Atticus bisa membagikan kisah mereka,

have agency over their own cases.

memiliki kendali atas kasus mereka.

In the meantime, we as lawyers need to make it happen in our work,

Sementara itu, kita sebagai pengacara harus mewujudkan ini dalam kerja kita,

in our cases right now.

dalam kasus kita sekarang.

Thank you.

Terima kasih.

(Applause)

(Tepuk tangan)