Itamar Mann: An app that empowers people to solve their legal problems | TED Fellows

譯者: Karen Feuerstein 審譯者: Helen Chang

[SHAPE YOUR FUTURE]

［形塑你的未來］

I’m going to start by telling you a story about Danielle.

我要從告訴你丹妮爾的故事開始。

When she was a senior in college, Danielle's dad passed away,

在她大四時父親過世，

which left her mom with no way to support herself.

她的母親無力維生。

So Danielle had to drop out of college

因此丹妮爾必須要從大學輟學，

and pick up three jobs as a barista, a bartender and a car washer.

並且做著三份工作：咖啡師、 酒保和洗車工人。

Altogether, the three jobs paid Danielle 23,000 dollars per year,

這三份工作一年付給丹妮爾 共二萬三千美金，

which wasn't a whole lot,

並不是很多，

but it allowed her to feed her mom and keep a roof over their head.

但足夠讓她給母親温飽和有房子住。

And for Danielle, that was enough.

對丹妮爾來說，這就足夠了。

But early one morning when Danielle was driving home from one of her jobs,

但是一天早上，當丹妮爾 自一個工作地點開車回家時，

a deer ran in front of her car.

一隻鹿跑到她的車前面。

She swerved off the road and crashed into a barn.

她緊急避開，撞向一個穀倉。

And Danielle doesn't remember exactly what happened next,

丹妮爾並不確切記得 接下來發生了什麼事，

but when she woke up in a hospital a few hours later,

幾個小時之後，她在醫院裏醒過來，

a doctor told her that she had damaged her brain stem and C1 vertebrae.

醫生告訴她，她的腦幹 和在 C1 的脊椎受傷了。

Now, the good news is that Danielle was going to leave the hospital alive.

好消息是丹妮爾能從醫院活著離開。

But the bad news is that Danielle had 55,000 dollars in medical bills.

但是壞消息是丹妮爾必須支付 醫療費五萬五千元的帳單。

Now, Danielle tried so hard for the next two years to try and pay back that debt,

丹妮爾接下來兩年非常 努力地工作試著要把欠債還清，

but it was impossible.

卻辦不到。

It was impossible for Danielle to pay back 55,000 dollars in medical bills,

無法要讓丹妮爾付清 五萬五千元的醫療費帳單，

earning just 23,000 dollars per year.

僅靠一年賺取二萬三千元。

She felt trapped.

她感到被困住。

One freak accident put Danielle

一個不遇而期的意外讓丹妮爾

on the verge of homelessness, hunger, poverty.

走上無家可歸、飢餓和貧窮的邊緣。

And when you're in Danielle's shoes, bankruptcy is a lifeline.

面對如丹妮爾的狀況， 破產是生命線，

It's a powerful legal tool that allows you to relieve your debt

它是個有力的合法工具 可以讓你解除你的債務，

and re-enter the economy.

重新進入經濟體系中。

Medical emergency, a job loss, a divorce.

緊急醫療狀況、失業、離婚，

These are financial shocks that could happen to any of us.

這些財務意外 有可能發生在任何人當中。

And when you're living paycheck to paycheck

當你生活在拿到薪水 僅為了付帳單的狀況，

and don't have a whole lot of savings, like so many Americans,

並且就像許許多多的美國人， 没有很多的存款，

a financial shock can ruin your life.

一個財務意外可以毀掉你的生活。

Bankruptcy gives you a second chance.

破產給了你第二個機會。

But when Danielle went to go find a bankruptcy lawyer,

但是當丹妮爾去找處理破產的律師，

she, like so many others filing for bankruptcy,

她就如同其他要申請破產的人一樣，

learned that it was going to cost her 1,500 dollars.

發現要花一千五百元才能做這事。

She didn't have that kind of money.

她並没有那些錢。

I mean, what a cruel irony.

我是指這是個殘酷的諷刺，

In America, it costs you 1,500 dollars to tell the court

在美國需要花一千五百元上法院

that you have no money.

宣告你没有錢。

When you walk into a court,

當你走入法院，

everyone from the judge to the clerk to the forms themselves

每個人從法官到書記員自己本人

will tell you to go find a lawyer,

會跟你說去找個律師，

no matter how little money you have.

不管你多麼沒錢。

One of the great civil rights injustices in America

在美國一個極為不正義的公民權

is that we don't have equal rights under the law.

是我們在法律之下不平等。

What we have is equal rights if you can afford a lawyer.

如果負擔得起律師 就有平等權利。

Whether you're evicted from your home in an abusive relationship

然而不管你是否是因為一段 受虐的關係而被迫離開家門，

or need access to bankruptcy,

或是需要申請破產，

you have no right to a free lawyer in most civil cases.

在大部份的公民案件中 你無權被指派一個免費的律師。

And because there aren't even close to enough

因為並没有夠接近狀況讓有

pro bono or legal aid lawyers around,

無償或法律援助的律師在旁邊，

four out of five low-income Americans

在美國每五個低收入戶中有四個

can't get the legal help they need to access their civil legal rights.

没得到亟需的合法、足夠的幫助 去行使他們的公民權利。

Four years ago, I helped start an organization

四年前， 我幫忙開始了一個組織

to fight for new civil right in America,

在美國為了新的公民權利而戰——

the right to solve your own legal problem when you can't afford a lawyer.

當你負擔不起律師時 給你自己解決法律問題的權利。

We started with bankruptcy.

我們從申請破產開始。

Our nonprofit Upsolve has built an app to help people file for bankruptcy

我們的非營利組織 Upsolve 做了應用程式

來幫助人們自己申請破產，免費的。

on their own for free.

People like Danielle.

像丹妮爾這樣的人。

Our app asks people questions about their finances

我們的應用程式會問 關於他們的財務問題，

in language they can understand

使用的是他們懂得的語言，

and then uses this information to help generate their forms.

用這資訊生成他們的表格。

Last year, Danielle used Upsolve to file for bankruptcy

去年丹妮爾用 Upsolve 的幫助

自己來免費申請破產。

on her own for free.

She got her final letter from the court, relieving all of her medical debt,

她得到法院給的判決書 豁免她所有的醫療費帳單，

right after Christmas Day.

就在耶誕節之後。

Today, Danielle has the highest paying job she's ever had

如今丹妮爾擁有 她未曾有過的高收入工作，

and she's on track to finish her degree.

並且她正在獲得她的文憑的路上。

There are so many opportunities to create a more just legal system

還有許多機會能夠建立 更合乎公義的法律系統，

by empowering people to solve their own legal problems

做法是通過授權人們

盡可能解決自己的法律問題。

whenever possible.

This is especially true in nonadversarial areas of the law,

在法律的非對抗性領域尤其如此，

things like no-asset bankruptcies,

像没有資產的破產案子，

uncontested divorces and Social Security disability.

没有爭議的離婚， 或是社會保障的殘障。

But there are two main barriers that stand in the way.

但是有兩個主要的障礙。

The first is legal complexity.

第一點是複雜的法律。

We've designed our forms in courts around lawyers, not regular people.

法庭上的表格是圍繞律師設計的， 不是為普通人設計的。

Many legal forms are like modern day literacy tests.

現代的許多法律表格 像是在認字測試。

When you can't understand them, you can't access your rights.

不了解它們就不能行使你的權利。

Every year, poorly designed forms, courts and processes

每一年在法院裡 設計不良的表格與流程

deny millions of Americans their life, their liberty and their property.

否定了數百萬美國人的 生活、自由和財產。

Legal complexity is a civil rights injustice.

複雜的法律使公民權不公義。

To start solving this problem,

要著手解決這個問題，

we need to require basic user testing in courts

我們必須要求法庭的基本用戶測試，

and reviser assumption in areas of poverty law

並修正貧困法領域的假設——

that everybody will be able to afford a lawyer.

它假設人人負擔得起律師。

A second barrier is a closed culture.

第二個障礙是封閉文化。

We've been met with pushback from some folks

我們都遇到過障礙，

有些人相信必須有個律師，

who believe that you need to go see a lawyer

no matter what legal problem you have.

不管面對什麼樣的法律問題。

Imagine you had to go see a doctor

想像你必須要去看醫生

to cure a plain old headache

來治療普通的頭痛，

rather than being able to buy Advil at your local pharmacy.

而不是就在附近的藥房買瓶止痛藥。

Telling a person who is poor to go find a lawyer

叫窮人去找律師，

when they obviously can't afford one

明明他們負擔不起，

is out of touch,

是不實際、

iIntimidating, unfair and wrong.

令人恐懼、不公平和錯誤的。

It's also a racial injustice.

這也是族群的不公義。

Black and brown communities disproportionately cannot afford

黑人和深色社區人口 不成比例地負擔不起

the legal fees they need to access their civil legal rights.

法律的費用來行使他們的公民權。

Many legal fees are like modern day poll taxes.

許多法律的費用就像現代的人頭稅。

When you can't afford to pay the fees, you can access your rights.

付不起費用就無法行使權利。

And we have a decision to make

我們得要決定，

about how open and equal we want our system of justice to be.

攸關司法系統如何地公開與公正。

The only way we're ever going to have equal rights in America

唯一讓全美國人 都擁有平等權利的方法，

is if we get rid of the modern day literacy tests

就是棄捨現今的認字測試

and poll taxes that dominate our courts and legal system.

和主導法院司法系統的人頭稅。

We need a new civil right in America,

美國需要新的公民系統，

the right to solve your own legal problem when you can't afford a lawyer.

當你無法負擔律師時 可以解決法律問題的權利。

Because in America, our rights are supposed to be inalienable,

因為在美國，我們的權利 應該是不能被剝奪的，

our protections are supposed to be equal,

對我們的保護應該是平等的，

and we all deserve a chance at life,

我們都被賦予生命、

liberty and the pursuit of happiness,

自由和追求快樂的機會，

whether or not we can afford the legal fees.

不論負擔得起法律費用與否。

Thank you.

謝謝。