经济学人292:又一条落网之鱼 Another one in the net

 　　ONE of the unforgettable experiences to be had in California is to go whale watching in Monterey Bay. Nancy Black, a licensed¹ marine² biologist, is one of the scientists who lead these commercial outings, besides doing her own whale research. As Lawrence Biegel, her lawyer, tells it, one day Ms Black was in her research boat with assistants when killer³ whales attacked a pod of grey whales and killed a calf⁴. Its blubber floated to the surface, and the killer whales were about to feed on it. Seizing this opportunity to film their behaviour, Ms Black threaded ropes through some pieces of blubber, then lowered a camera underwater.

　　来到加利福尼亚州，前往蒙特利海湾观赏鲸鱼是其中一个令人难忘的经历。南西?布莱克是一位获得执照的海洋生物学家，她是位在研究鲸鱼之余充当这种商业观光活动的导游的科学家之一。她的律师劳伦斯?比格尔说，有一天布莱克女士和助手正在研究船上，当时几头杀人鲸攻击了一群灰鲸并杀死了一只幼鲸。幼鲸的鲸脂浮上海面，而那些杀人鲸则打算以此果腹。为了乘机拍摄杀人鲸的生活习性，布莱克女士用绳将几块鲸脂串起来，然后将一部摄影机放入水下。

　　For this, Ms Black might now face up to 20 years in prison and half a million dollars in fines, after a federal grand jury indicted⁵ her this month. Little about the charges makes common sense. The federal law in question is the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, which was intended to save dolphins, seals and whales from being killed and harassed⁶. The law also banned feeding these animals, on the theory that doing so might compromise their ability to forage⁷ naturally in future. Feeding is what Ms Black is now accused of. She says she was using the protocols⁸ she had learned from the federal agencies that are now investigating her to observe a natural feeding that was already in progress.

　　为此，布莱克女士在本月遭到一个联邦大陪审团起诉，如今她可能面临最高二十年的有期徒刑及五十万美元的罚款。这些指控完全不合情理。与此案相关的法律是于1972年颁布的联邦法律《海洋哺乳动物保护法案》。此法旨在保护海豚、海豹、鲸鱼不被捕杀及骚扰；同时也禁止向以上动物喂食，理论依据是这样做会损害日后它们自行觅食的能力。布莱克女士现在被指控的就是向鲸鱼喂食。她说她当时观察鲸鱼捕食所遵循的标准正是从正在调查她的各联邦机构处获得的。

　　Just as ridiculous, says Mr Biegel, is the accusation⁹, increasingly common in federal cases, that Ms Black lied to the authorities, which carries its own prison terms. Ms Black always edits the commercial videos of her whale outings to make them more interesting. When investigators¹⁰ demanded footage, she gave them one of these edited videos. Prosecutors¹¹ now claim that she had tampered¹² with evidence.

　　比格尔说，同样荒唐的是南西被指控对当局撒谎（这种指控在联邦诉讼案件中日益普遍），而单是这项罪名也能被判监禁。布莱克女士总是会对她拍摄的商用鲸鱼视频进行剪辑，好让它们更有意思。当调查方要求获得拍摄胶卷时，她交出了其中一个剪辑过的视频。现在检察官声称她篡改了证据。

　　To Harvey Silverglate, the author of “Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent”, this is par¹³ for the course in America’s federal justice system today. A couple of trends have combined to threaten justice and liberty. First, federal statutes¹⁴ are often so poorly written and so vague that they are in effect incomprehensible. This gives excessive discretion¹⁵ to bureaucrats¹⁶ and prosecutors, with their own career ambitions, who apply them haphazardly¹⁷.

　　在《一天三宗罪：联邦政府如何攻击无辜之人》的作者哈维?Silverglate看来，在当今美国的联邦司法体系中发生这种事实属意料之中。现已出现了两种趋势，对司法与自由都产生了威胁。首先，许多联邦法令行文拙劣、含糊其辞，以至于实际上难以理解。这就给了官僚和检查官们过度的决定权，这些各自怀有职业抱负的人会滥用这种权力。

　　Second, federal law has been moving away from mens rea (“guilty mind”), a common-law tradition that suggests that a person who had no idea he was breaking a law should not be accused of doing so. With bloated federal legislation and without mens rea you can accuse most people of something or other, says Mr Silverglate. The question should be, he says, whether charges are reasonable when they run “counter to all human instinct and experience”.

　　其次，联邦法律已逐渐抛弃了“犯罪意图”（“犯罪心理”）这一概念。“犯罪意图”是习惯法的一种传统，意思是一个没有意识到自己犯了罪的人不应被起诉。Silverglate说，在名目繁多的联邦法律之下，没有“犯罪意图”这一概念，大部分人都可能因为这样或者那样的罪名遭到起诉。他说，问题应该在于：当指控与“人类所有的常识及经验背道而驰”时，它们仍是合理的吗？

1 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

2 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

4 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

5 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

6 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

7 forage   

n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻

参考例句：

• They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel.他们不得不去寻找衣服和燃料。
• Now the nutritive value of the forage is reduced.此时牧草的营养价值也下降了。

8 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

9 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

10 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

12 tampered   

v.窜改( tamper的过去式 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• The records of the meeting had been tampered with. 会议记录已被人擅自改动。 来自辞典例句
• The old man's will has been tampered with. 老人的遗嘱已被窜改。 来自辞典例句

13 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

14 statutes   

成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程

参考例句：

• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Each agency is also restricted by the particular statutes governing its activities. 各个机构的行为也受具体法令限制。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

15 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

16 bureaucrats   

n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言

参考例句：

• That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
• Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句

17 haphazardly   

adv.偶然地，随意地，杂乱地

参考例句：

• The books were placed haphazardly on the shelf. 书籍乱七八糟地堆放在书架上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is foolish to haphazardly adventure. 随便冒险是愚蠢的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》