VOA慢速英语--自由派认为美国最高法院的未来是一个选举问题

Liberals See US Supreme¹ Court’s Future an Election Issue

At the age 87, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the oldest justice of the United States Supreme Court. She is also one of its longest-serving and most liberal members.

Last week, Ginsburg, who has survived cancer, worried her many supporters with the announcement that her cancer has returned.

"Everybody is checking their phones daily to see what Justice Ginsburg[‘s] health situation is," said Russell Wheeler. He is an expert at the Brookings Institution, a Washington policy and research center.

Ginsberg was appointed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1993. She said she has no plans to retire. But her supporters fear a court opening would permit President Donald Trump³, a Republican, to appoint another conservative judge.

The Supreme Court's future

The Supreme Court's decisions usually have a strong effect on every part of American life.

Just this year, the court said that U.S. law protects gay and transgendered from workplace discrimination. It said employers can deny birth control health coverage⁴ to female workers based on religious belief. And it ruled that "no citizen, not even the President," in this case, could refuse to produce evidence for a state's criminal hearing.

Justices in the United States Supreme Court are nominated by the president. After Senate confirmation⁵, they can serve for life but some choose to leave early.

Ginsburg is not the only older Supreme Court justice likely to retire. Liberal justice Stephen Breyer, another Clinton appointee, is 81. Republican-appointed conservative justices Clarence Thomas, at 72, and Samuel A. Alito Jr., at 70, are nearing retirement⁶ age.

The court now has five conservative and four liberal members. Two of its conservative justices – Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh – were appointed by Trump.

In 2016, the Republican-controlled Senate refused to consider a nomination⁷ to the Supreme Court from President Barack Obama, a Democrat². As a campaigning move, Republican candidate Donald Trump released the names of conservatives who he would nominate to the court. Some conservative voters noted⁸ the move as a reason they voted for Trump.

With at least one or more court openings possible, liberals are now hoping to make the Supreme Court's future an issue in the November presidential election in 2020.

A group of liberal organizations has started buying $2 million worth of advertising⁹ in Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. These are the important states that could decide who becomes the next president.

"Donald Trump has hijacked¹¹ our Supreme Court with far-right justices like Brett Kavanaugh," the project's first ad says, adding that Kavanaugh may serve for many more years.

Courtney Parella is a Trump campaign spokeswoman. She defended the president's record of appointing "solid, conservative" federal judges.

"The president's record appeals to conservatives who supported him in 2016, appointing judges that will faithfully uphold the Constitution," Parella said.

While agreeing that the Nov. 3 election will likely be decided¹² by two issues, the coronavirus and the economy, Democrats¹³ say voters have begun to understand the importance of the Supreme Court. And there is some evidence of that.

In April, a poll by Suffolk University and USA Today found that more Democrats than Republicans view the Supreme Court as a top issue.

Yet the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has not made the Supreme Court a campaign issue. The Biden campaign did not respond to several requests for comment.

I'm Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

gay - adj. a homosexual

transgendered - adj. one who changes the sex of birth to the other sex

hijack¹⁰ – v. to take over

faithfully - adj. with devotion

uphold - v. to maintain or to respect

poll – n. a group of questions used to determine possible voting outcomes

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 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

7 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。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

10 hijack   

v.劫持，劫机，拦路抢劫

参考例句：

• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。
• The hijack take place just after the plane take off.劫持是飞机刚起飞后发生的。

11 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 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》