美国国家公共电台 NPR Supreme Court Pressed For Sealed Documents In Death Penalty Case

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The U.S. Supreme¹ Court, which has been bitterly divided over the use of the death penalty in recent years, is now hiding a part of that dispute from public view. In a rare move, the court sealed and significantly redacted documents relating to Christopher Price, who was executed by the state of Alabama last week. The redacted material involves the drugs and the protocol² the state uses in executions. NPR and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press have filed a motion with the Supreme Court requesting it to unseal those records. NPR's legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg is involved in that motion and joins us. Nina, thanks so much for being with us.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE³: Oh, it's my pleasure, Scott.

SIMON: What can you tell us about the sealed documents?

TOTENBERG: Well, Christopher Price wanted to be executed by nitrogen gas instead of midazolam, which is a very controversial drug which he claimed cause excruciating pain. And the state of Alabama insisted on secrecy⁴ about the drugs and the protocol and the evidence. And if the defense⁵ lawyers wanted to get the case to the Supreme Court, they tell me, they had to agree to sealing all the documents. That was the price of admission that Alabama was demanding. But when it got to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court justices certainly didn't have to agree to blacking out most of the arguments in the briefs (ph), but they did that. And when you look at those briefs and you see all the words and the sentences, most of the brief's just blacked out. It's highly unusual, and it's quite a shock.

SIMON: I mean, other states and courts have talked about lethal⁶ injection drugs. Why the secrecy?

TOTENBERG: I don't know. And when I contacted the state of Alabama, they wouldn't tell me. In the briefs, they say they want confidentiality⁷. And the only suggestion is that the reason was - that they gave to me - was to protect the correctional personnel. But the defense lawyers say they never wanted the identities of the correctional personnel made public.

SIMON: This is going to sound naive⁸, but does the public have the right to all decisions, arguments and records from the Supreme Court?

TOTENBERG: Well, that's why NPR went to court - and the Reporters Committee. And we can only hope that the justices, upon further reflection, will do what they've always done in the past pretty much, and that is make arguments public. Among other things, they make them public so that other lawyers will know what arguments were accepted and what weren't. And that's also so because the public will understand the reasoning of the court's decisions and have confidence in the system and its transparency.

SIMON: Nina, given all of your time covering the U.S. Supreme Court and legal questions, this is rare. What do you make of it?

TOTENBERG: Really, I don't know what to make of it. After all, the Supreme Court didn't seal any of the briefs in the Pentagon Papers case in 1971. And that case involved claims of national security. It didn't even seal most of the record in that case. It just sealed parts of the appendix. And in this case, one of the defense lawyers told me that he couldn't even disclose to me the testimony⁹ of the deposition¹⁰ given by an expert witness on the Alabama protocols¹¹ just a week ago in an Atlanta law firm. You know, let me add here that in 2018, Chief Justice Roberts called the judiciary the most transparent¹² branch of government. And the Supreme Court has long upheld the right of access to a wide range of judicial¹³ proceedings¹⁴ and records for all the reasons that I have just enumerated¹⁵.

SIMON: NPR's legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg, thanks so much.

TOTENBERG: You're welcome.

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 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

3 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。

4 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

7 confidentiality   

n.秘而不宣，保密

参考例句：

• They signed a confidentiality agreement. 他们签署了一份保守机密的协议。
• Cryptography is the foundation of supporting authentication, integrality and confidentiality. 而密码学是支持认证、完整性和机密性机制的基础。

8 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

9 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

10 deposition   

n.免职，罢官；作证；沉淀；沉淀物

参考例句：

• It was this issue which led to the deposition of the king.正是这件事导致了国王被废黜。
• This leads to calcium deposition in the blood-vessels.这导致钙在血管中沉积。

11 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

12 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

13 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。

14 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

15 enumerated   

v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A spokesperson enumerated the strikers' demands. 发言人列数罢工者的要求。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enumerated the capitals of the 50 states. 他列举了50个州的首府。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》