AS IT IS 2016-03-17 Obama Names Garland to Supreme Court

AS IT IS 2016-03-17 Obama Names Garland to Supreme¹ Court

President Barack Obama has nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.

Garland, 63, is viewed as a moderate, based on his 19 years on the Washington, D.C. appeals court. He is now the court's chief judge. He won Senate confirmation² in 1997 by a 76-23 vote. He had been nominated by former Democratic President Bill Clinton.

“This is the greatest honor of my life,” Garland said from the White House Rose Garden.

Garland worked for many years as a federal prosecutor³. He led the team that prosecuted⁴ the Oklahoma City bombing, in which 168 were killed and more than 680 were injured. He also prosecuted American terrorist Theodore Kaczynski, known as the “Unabomber.”

“Judge Garland is a brilliant jurist whom I've admired ever since he was my constitutional law student,” said Laurence Tribe of Harvard University’s Law School. “His modesty⁵, humility⁶, and moderation make him a particularly suitable choice for these divided times.”

The other finalists were Sri Srinivasan, 47, an appellate court judge, who would have been the first Indian-American Supreme Court judge, and Paul Watford. Wadford is a California federal judge and would have been the Supreme Court's second African-American judge.

The Supreme Court has a vacancy⁷ because of the death last month of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Court decisions will be made by eight members until a ninth is confirmed.

The stakes could not be higher. The court is divided between conservative and liberal justices. The newly appointed justice could change the direction of the Supreme Court for years.

The White House said that Garland has had Republican support in the past, and should again.

But past support from Republicans might not matter now.

Senate Republican leaders say they will not consider any Obama nomination⁸. They say they want the next president to choose the Supreme Court nominee⁹. They hope voters in November will elect a Republican president, who would name a conservative to the court.

On Monday, the Republican National Committee (or RNC) announced it will start running TV advertisements to oppose any Obama nominee.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said Republicans plan to “make sure Democrats¹⁰ have to answer to the American people for why they don’t want voters to have a say in the process.”

Democrats say a president has a responsibility to fill a vacancy in America’s most important court. It does not matter, they say, whether the opening occurs in a president’s first year in office or his last.

The White House said Monday that its supporters would start a campaign to pressure the Senate to vote on the president’s nominee.

Obama told CNN he was choosing a “consensus¹¹ candidate” to replace Scalia.

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York said Senate Republicans would pay a political price if they do not consider the president’s nominee.

“To say that there will be no hearing, no vote, no consideration whatsoever¹² even before a nominee is named to a vacancy, that is not doing your job; that is quitting before you start,” he said.

Some have called on Obama to name a woman to the Supreme Court. There are three women justices now on the High Court. Obama appointed two of them: Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Terry O’Neill, an attorney and president of the National Organization for Women, said the president should nominate a “well-qualified person” who is “dedicated to human and civil rights.”

A woman, she said, particularly an African-American woman, would bring more balance to the Supreme Court.

“Life experience matters,” O’Neill told VOA. “If you understand in your gut¹³ what it means to wake up afraid about a missed period, it clues you in to the extraordinary damage of Texas’ shutdown law for abortion¹⁴ providers.”

O’Neill was referring to a case just argued in the Supreme Court over a state abortion law in Texas. The law requires abortion facilities to meet tough new standards. Abortion providers say the standards are not needed and will shut down most health centers that perform abortions¹⁵. Supporters say the new law protects the health of women.

The High Court is said to be divided 4-4 on how to rule on that case.

Words in This Story

notable – n.  unusual and worth noticing

vacancy – n. an opening

consensus – n. a general agreement about something

whatsoever – adj. of any kind or amount at all

quit – v. to leave a job or to give up

momentous¹⁶ – adj. very important

checkered¹⁷ – adj. many problems of failures

period – n. referring to woman’s 'menstrual cycle

extraordinary – adj. very unusual

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 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

3 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

4 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

5 modesty   

n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素

参考例句：

• Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。
• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。

6 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

7 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

8 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

9 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

10 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》

11 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

12 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

13 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。

14 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。

15 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

16 momentous   

adj.重要的，重大的

参考例句：

• I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。
• The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。

17 checkered   

adj.有方格图案的

参考例句：

• The ground under the trees was checkered with sunlight and shade.林地光影交错。
• He’d had a checkered past in the government.他过去在政界浮沉。