美国国家公共电台 NPR Abortion, Guns And Gay Rights On The Docket For Supreme Court's New Term

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We have reached the first Monday in October. And that, among other things, means that the United States Supreme¹ Court formally opens a new term. It is a very different place since 2018, with conservatives now holding a firm majority on the court. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg reports.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE²: The upcoming Supreme Court term will likely be a march to the right on almost every issue that's a flashpoint in American society - abortion³, guns, gay rights, the separation of church and state, immigration and presidential power. And that's just the beginning. Headed to the court are cases testing the power of Congress to get information from the executive branch that's relevant to congressional oversight⁴ - and potentially to impeachment⁵.

Clearly, President Trump⁶ had something like that in mind when he had this to say about impeachment late in September.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It shouldn't be allowed. There should be a way of stopping it, maybe legally through the courts.

TOTENBERG: With a newly energized⁷ conservative majority in place, Chief Justice John Roberts occasionally splits from fellow conservatives, as he did in upholding Obamacare in 2012 and in repudiating⁸ the citizenship⁹ question on the census¹⁰ seven years later. But usually, on the big issues, as Supreme Court advocate Tom Goldstein puts it...

TOM GOLDSTEIN: The chief justice does seem to be a solid conservative vote. The disagreement among the right in the Supreme Court has been about, how fast do you move?

TOTENBERG: The first place that disagreement could become apparent is on abortion in a case that asked the court to essentially¹¹ reverse a 2016 decision that struck down a Texas law that threatened the very existence of most clinics that perform abortions¹². Goldstein, who's publisher of the leading Supreme Court blog, expects the court to eventually reverse Roe¹³ v. Wade¹⁴ outright¹⁵ or hollow it out over time.

GOLDSTEIN: It's coming, but nobody quite knows whether it's in one year, five years or maybe 10.

TOTENBERG: Also before the court is a gun case, the first major test of gun regulations in the 10 years since the justices ruled that there is a constitutional right to own a gun for self-defense in one's home. Court observers have long attributed the 10-year hiatus on gun cases to a closely divided court on which neither the four conservatives nor the four liberals were sure how Justice Kennedy would cast his deciding vote. But now Kennedy is retired¹⁶, replaced by Justice Kavanaugh, who, on the lower court, was a critic of most gun regulations and a strong supporter of expansive gun rights.

Also before the court this term are major questions involving the separation of church and state. For generations, the court sought to erect¹⁷ a relatively¹⁸ high wall of separation, but that's begun to change. And religious rights advocates are poised¹⁹ to pounce²⁰. Mark Rienzi is president of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

MARK RIENZI: I actually can't recall a time in the last 20 years that there were this many key issues that seemed ready for decision and primed for decision.

TOTENBERG: In particular, Rienzi and others have set their sights on invalidating or undermining provisions in most state constitutions that bar direct or indirect aid to religious schools. Former Solicitor²¹ General Paul Clement²².

PAUL CLEMENT: The mood music of the court is that they would probably say that that's just discrimination on the basis of religion and that's forbidden by the federal constitution.

TOTENBERG: Moving on to another hot-button issue, the court will hear a case that tests whether employers are free to fire gay employees because of their sexual orientation²³ or transgender employees because of their gender²⁴ identity. The 1964 Civil Rights Act bars discrimination in employment, quote, "because of sex." The fired employees contend that language protects them from such discharges. The employers argue that the law was never meant to cover gay or transgender employees.

Then, too, there are a variety of immigration cases, the biggest being the Trump administration's attempt to roll back the Obama administration program that currently protects from deportation²⁵ some 700 to 800,000 so-called DREAMers brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were children without legal authorization²⁶. In short, the cases before the court are a legal Rorschach test if ever there was one.

Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF TINGVALL TRIO'S "KARUSELLEN")

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 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

4 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

5 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

6 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。

7 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

8 repudiating   

v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的现在分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务）

参考例句：

• Instead of repudiating what he had done, he gloried in it. 他不但没有否定自己做过的事，反而引以为荣。 来自辞典例句
• He accused the government of tearing up(ie repudiating)the negotiated agreement. 他控告政府撕毁（不履行）协议。 来自互联网

9 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

10 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

13 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

14 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

15 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

16 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

17 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

18 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。

19 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

20 pounce   

n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意

参考例句：

• Why do you pounce on every single thing I say?干吗我说的每句话你都要找麻烦？
• We saw the tiger about to pounce on the goat.我们看见老虎要向那只山羊扑过去。

21 solicitor   

n.初级律师，事务律师

参考例句：

• The solicitor's advice gave me food for thought.律师的指点值得我深思。
• The solicitor moved for an adjournment of the case.律师请求将这个案件的诉讼延期。

22 clement   

adj.仁慈的；温和的

参考例句：

• A clement judge reduced his sentence.一位仁慈的法官为他减了刑。
• The planet's history contains many less stable and clement eras than the holocene.地球的历史包含着许多不如全新世稳定与温和的地质时期。

23 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

24 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

25 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

26 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。