2014年经济学人 最高法院 起草法案,郑重起誓,划分选区

The Supreme¹ Court

Drafting laws, vows² and maps

Obamacare, gay marriage and race: the justices' term is heating up

TWO years ago Obamacare survived a constitutional assault by the narrowest of margins³, but its opponents have not given up. On November 7th the Supreme Court agreed to hear another challenge which, if upheld, could gut⁴ the president's health-care law.

In King v Burwell the challengers are demanding that Obamacare be enforced as it was written. Since it was badly written—Congress passed a shoddy and confusing first draft, which Barack Obama signed—this could cause problems. The law specifies⁵ that subsidies⁶ will be available to people who buy their health insurance on an exchange “established by the State”. At the time, Democrats⁷ assumed that the states would all set up exchanges, but 27 refused to do so. Mr Obama got round this by setting up a federal exchange and offering subsidies through that, too. The plaintiffs say such subsidies are illegal.

The administration argues that Congress never intended to doom⁸ its own law with a four-word time bomb. Over 5m Americans have bought their policies via federal exchanges. If the justices strike down their subsidies, millions could lose coverage⁹, or have to pay more for it out of their own pockets. The court will hear the case early next year and rule by June.

Gay marriage may also soon arrive on the justices' docket. On November 6th the Sixth Circuit became the first federal appellate court to uphold a state ban on gay marriage. Four circuits have nullified similar bans in recent months, so the new ruling creates a split. Are same-sex marriage bans compatible with the Constitution's guarantee of “the equal protection of the laws”? Only the Supreme Court can settle the matter. It may do so next year.

On November 12th the Supremes heard a tricky¹⁰ case involving race and gerrymandering. The Alabama Legislative¹¹ Black Caucus¹² and the Alabama Democratic Conference claim that the Republican-controlled Alabama legislature violated the 14th Amendment¹³ (the equal protection clause, again) when it redrew electoral boundaries in 2012. The new map, the appellees argue, stuffed more blacks into areas where blacks already outnumbered whites, creating districts with black supermajorities topping 70% and solidifying¹⁴ the Republican Party's hold on other districts.

Both sides have been opportunistic. Democrats are now railing against Alabama for using “rigid racial targets” in redistricting. Yet it was they who insisted that the state create the majority-black districts in 2001, to boost black voting power. Justice Antonin Scalia said to Richard Pildes, a lawyer for the appellants: “You're making the argument that the opponents of black plaintiffs used to make here.” Chief Justice John Roberts implied that it was unfair to ask Alabama to “hit a sweet spot” between too little racial gerrymandering and too much. Where to draw the line? (Which is, of course, the question.)

Alabama, for its part, claims it is merely trying to comply with the Voting Rights Act, which has been interpreted to favour the creation of majority-minority districts wherever possible. As recently as last year, however, Alabama Republicans were challenging one part of the Voting Rights Act, in Shelby County v Holder¹⁵. (They succeeded.)

Today, no one doubts that Alabama Republicans' real aim is to draft an electoral map that favours their own party. That is, after all, what both parties invariably do when they get the chance. Justice Elena Kagan scoffed¹⁶: “Nobody would say that [the Voting Rights Act] required you to maintain a 78% [black] district.” Yet, as Justice Samuel Alito pointed¹⁷ out, gerrymandering based “purely on partisanship¹⁸ rather than on race” is perfectly¹⁹ legal. Whether it should be is another question.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

3 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

4 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

5 specifies   

v.指定( specify的第三人称单数 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性

参考例句：

• The third clause of the contract specifies steel sashes for the windows. 合同的第三款指定使用钢窗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The contract specifies red tiles, not slates, for the roof. 合同规定屋顶用红瓦，并非石板瓦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

11 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

12 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

13 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

14 solidifying   

（使）成为固体，（使）变硬，（使）变得坚固( solidify的现在分词 )； 使团结一致； 充实，巩固； 具体化

参考例句：

• The substances are formed from a mixture of liquids solidifying under pressure. 这些材料是由几种液体混合在一起并加压使之凝固而成的。
• Painting is an art solidifies time and space for solidifying. 绘画是凝固了的时间和空间的艺术。

15 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

16 scoffed   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
• A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。

17 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

18 Partisanship   

n. 党派性, 党派偏见

参考例句：

• Her violent partisanship was fighting Soames's battle. 她的激烈偏袒等于替索米斯卖气力。
• There was a link of understanding between them, more important than affection or partisanship. ' 比起人间的感情，比起相同的政见，这一点都来得格外重要。 来自英汉文学

19 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。