美国国家公共电台 NPR--What a special master does, as told by a special master

What a special master does, as told by a special master

Transcript¹

The first legal step that former President Donald Trump² took after FBI agents executed a search warrant at his home last month was to ask a federal court to appoint a special master to review the documents they had seized.

That request spawned³ a whole new saga⁴, with the Justice Department arguing that such an appointment is not only unnecessary but would "significantly harm important governmental interests, including national security interests."

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon⁵ granted that request on Monday, setting a Friday deadline for both parties to jointly⁶ submit a list of proposed candidates as well as their duties, limits and schedule.

In the meantime, it's worth examining the question: What exactly is the role of a special master in general, and how could the potential appointment of one impact this case specifically?

"A special master really is kind of a fancy name for judge's helper," explains David Cohen, a special master who serves in federal cases including opioid litigation.

He told Morning Edition's Rachel Martin last week that special masters, who are usually attorneys, can be appointed when judges get complex cases — and that Trump's is far from typical. Their conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Interview highlights

What counts as a complex case?

Obviously that's not going to happen when it's a simple car accident, but in a case where the subject matter is complicated — for example, an antitrust case or a patent case — or the case itself is just overwhelmingly large — like the BP oil spill case or national opioid litigation — or even just a case where the parties can't even really say hello to each other without getting into a fight and it just needs a lot of judicial⁷ supervision⁸, what a federal judge will sometimes do is appoint a special master just to help the judge oversee⁹ the case because there's just a lot to do, and judges have limited judicial resources, limited time.

What qualifications does a special master need?

It's not always an attorney. For example, in a patent case what a judge might need most is somebody who is conversant¹⁰ in the technology at issue, but ... it's usually an attorney. I guess the primary qualification is somebody who can remain neutral, which isn't easy. It's kind of hard to refresh your neutrality every day. You can't come in and be a judge or a special master with an agenda or really kind of wanting one side to win, you need to look at all the facts and the evidence and what the parties are arguing, and apply the law to the facts and come out to what the right result is regardless of who is appearing before you.

Do special masters always try to draw conclusions?

It depends ... if I'm being asked by the judge to provide a report and recommendation on a motion then yes, I'm going to say, "Judge, this is how I think you should rule," and I'll draft an order or a proposed order, or I'll submit my opinion over my signature, which the parties can then accept or appeal to the judge. And in other cases, it's sometimes just being present so that while the parties are arguing you can referee¹¹ it.

What role could a special master play in Trump's case?

In this case in front of Judge Cannon, it looks like the judge is going to be appointing — if that does happen — appointing somebody who is going to make calls — yes or no; this is privileged, this isn't — [and] submit a report to the parties. The parties would then have an opportunity to object, which is to say, to appeal to the judge, and she would then rule de novo, which means kind of start at the beginning. But everybody knows that for the most part, if the special master knows what they're doing, the judge is going to accept the recommendation.

What makes Trump's case unique?

This is such an unusual case. In most cases where I've been appointed, I'm being asked to oversee discovery, I'm being asked to rule on attorney-client privilege issues. There aren't really any cases where you have the ex-president of the United States having materials taken out of his house and citing not only attorney-client privilege — which is relatively¹² easy, there's all kinds of case law about that — but executive privilege, which has not been the subject of a lot of case law.

Could appointing a special master slow down the Justice Department's investigation¹³?

It's very likely that if Judge Cannon appoints a special master, that the special master's going to have to do a lot of legal research, come to a place of understanding of how to apply the law and look at some pretty unusual facts. So that does have the chance to slow things down. But on the other hand, the judge could provide for a kind of parallel processing, where the review continues by the Justice Department while the special master is reviewing the documents as well.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

4 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

5 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

6 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

7 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

8 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

9 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

10 conversant   

adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的

参考例句：

• Mr.Taylor is thoroughly conversant with modern music.泰勒先生对现代音乐很精通。
• We become the most conversant stranger in the world.我们变成了世界上最熟悉的陌生人。

11 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

12 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。