America is one of the world’s most litigious societies. The word “litigious” describes people who are very eager or ready to sue others to try to win money in court judgements. A litigious society is a society where people often sue other people or companies. I still remember reading media articles many years ago about several teenagers who sued a fast-food chain for making them overweight. Some of these teenagers ate fast-food hamburgers and other things daily. One teenager weighed 270 pounds after eating fast food hamburgers daily. The judges in these cases ruled against the teenagers.
I read a media report recently about African elephants in a Colorado zoo that reminded me of America’s litigious society. The news report was sad yet funny. An animal rights group used habeas corpus to force the zoo to free five elderly African elephants and put them in an elephant sanctuary. Habeas corpus is a common law process that allows people who feel they are being illegally detained or jailed to demand their freedom in court. A sanctuary is a place that provides safety and protection.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled 6-0 against the animal rights group, saying the question boiled down to whether an elephant is a person. The expression “boils down to” means the most important reason for something. The court expressed sympathy for the elephants but said an elephant is legally not a person and does not have the legal right to use habeas corpus to be freed. I feel sad for the elephants. They belong in a sanctuary. But I laughed when I read that the animal rights group tried to use habeas corpus to free them.
美國是全世界最愛打官司的社會（litigious societies）之一。Litigious是形容人們非常熱衷或準備好要告人，嘗試在法庭裁決中獲得賠償。A litigious society是一個社會的人常起訴其他人或公司。我仍然記得許多年前讀過的傳媒報道，幾個年輕人控告快餐連鎖店令他們超重。這些年輕人之中，有的是每天都吃快餐店的漢堡包和其他食物。一個年輕人天天吃快餐店的漢堡包後，體重增至270磅。法官最終在這些案件中判年輕人敗訴。
我最近讀到一則傳媒報道，是關於科羅拉多州動物園內的非洲大象，再次令我想到美國真是個愛訴訟的社會（litigious society）。那則新聞報道有點傷感但又很可笑。一個保護動物權益的組織利用人身保護令（habeas corpus），迫令動物園去釋放五隻年老的非洲象，而安置於一個大象的庇護所（sanctuary）之中。Habeas corpus是一個普通法的程序，當人感到自己是被非法拘留又或囚禁時，可以在法庭尋求自由。A sanctuary是提供安全保護的庇護所。
科州高等法院以六比零裁定動保組織敗訴，指出問題可歸結為（boiled down to）一隻大象可否算為一個人。習語 boils down to是指一件事歸根究底的主要原因是甚麼。法庭表達對大象的同情，但說在法律上，大象不是一個人，因此也沒有法律權利透過人身保護令（habeas corpus）去獲得釋放。我替那些大象感到傷感，牠們應該歸宿於庇護所（sanctuary）之中；但當我讀到動保組織嘗試用人身保護令（habeas corpus）去釋放牠們時，又不由得笑了。
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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻
