美国国家公共电台 NPR--The landmark Voting Rights Act faces further dismantling at the Supreme Court

The landmark¹ Voting Rights Act faces further dismantling² at the Supreme³ Court

Transcript⁴

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on Tuesday in a case that could put another nail in the coffin⁵ of the landmark Voting Rights Act, first passed in 1965 and aimed at eliminating race discrimination against minority voters.

Since 2013, the Supreme Court has twice struck down or neutered major portions of the act. Now, once again, the law is on the chopping block? — this time on the question of how state legislatures may draw congressional district lines when the state's voters are racially polarized.

At issue is Alabama's congressional redistricting plan adopted by the Republican state legislature after the 2020 census⁶. More than a quarter of the state's population is African American, but in only 1 of 7 districts do minority voters have a realistic chance of electing the candidate of their choice. Black voters are either concentrated in that district so they are a supermajority there or spread out across the remaining six districts so that their voting power is diluted⁷. It's a practice known as packing and cracking.

"In Alabama, voting is racially polarized, which means Black voters and white voters systematically⁸ vote for different candidates, particularly when Black candidates are on the ballot," says election law expert Richard Pildes. And that, he says, "triggers the Voting Rights Act."

How the lower courts ruled

Triggering the Voting Rights Act is a big deal, with special irony⁹ in this context. That's because this case involves a provision that Congress changed in 1982 to fix what it considered an erroneous Supreme Court interpretation¹⁰ of the statute¹¹.

After the Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that voting rights advocates had to prove intentional¹² discrimination in order to invalidate an electoral system, Congress amended¹³ the law to make clear that minority voters only have to prove a discriminatory result — a considerably¹⁴ easier thing to do than proving intentional discrimination. Discriminatory result has been the standard since then, upheld by the Supreme Court and enforced by the lower courts.

In January, a three-judge federal court panel ruled unanimously that Alabama could and should have created two compact congressional districts with a majority, or close to a majority, of Black voters: two districts instead of just one. Two of the judges on the panel were Trump¹⁵ appointees, the third a Clinton appointee.

The state appealed to the Supreme Court, which by a 5-4 vote blocked the lower court ruling?, which ordered a new map for the 2022 election, then nine months away. That was too much for Chief Justice John Roberts, a longtime critic of the Voting Rights Act, but who this time dissented¹⁶ along with the court's three liberals. He said he could find "no apparent errors" in the way the lower court applied¹⁷ existing precedents¹⁸.

Alabama's argument

What he didn't say was whether the court should revisit some of those precedents. And on Tuesday, the court hears arguments on whether to do just that. At issue is whether to overrule or modify those prior decisions that have governed the law for over 30 years. The existing precedents put an "affirmative obligation" in the face of racially polarized voting to "give minority voters an equal opportunity to elect the candidates they prefer," says Pildes, a professor at the New York University School of Law.

He notes that Alabama's arguments range from the narrow ones about how to interpret the 1982 amendments¹⁹ to the Voting Right Act, to more extreme arguments.

One extreme argument, Pildes says, is that the Voting Rights Act doesn't apply at all to legislative²⁰ redistricting plans, even though the court has historically applied the act to those plans. "Or," he says, "even more dramatically, that if [the Voting Rights Act] does apply in the way the lower court held here, then the act is unconstitutional."

Unconstitutional because it is based on affirmatively creating a second compact district based on race. As Alabama put it in its briefs, by requiring a "race-based" redistricting map, the lower court indulged in "the noxious²¹ idea that redistricting begins and ends with racial considerations."

Countering that argument, Black voters contend that the state's argument boils down to a topsy-turvy, inside-out proposition: that any effort to eradicate²² racial discrimination is unconstitutional because it has to emphasize considerations of race.

1 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

2 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

3 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。

4 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

5 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

6 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。

7 diluted   

无力的，冲淡的

参考例句：

• The paint can be diluted with water to make a lighter shade. 这颜料可用水稀释以使色度淡一些。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields. 这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

8 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

9 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

10 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

11 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

12 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

13 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

14 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

15 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。

16 dissented   

不同意，持异议( dissent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We dissented from the decision. 对那项决定我们表示了不同意见。
• He dissented and questioned the justice of the award. 他提出质问，说裁判不公允。

17 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

18 precedents   

引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例

参考例句：

• There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
• He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。

19 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

20 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。

21 noxious   

adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• Heavy industry pollutes our rivers with noxious chemicals.重工业产生的有毒化学品会污染我们的河流。
• Many household products give off noxious fumes.很多家用产品散发有害气体。

22 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。