美国国家公共电台 NPR Citizenship Question Lawsuit Plaintiffs Ask Supreme Court To Delay Ruling

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A fight over the census¹ is being waged in two different areas. The Trump² administration, as you may have heard, wants to ask if the person being counted is a U.S. citizen. That's the question they have proposed for the 2020 census. The Supreme³ Court is considering this request after dozens of states and cities and advocacy groups sued. Yesterday, the president asserted executive privilege to block Congress in the other battle because Congress is seeking information about why it is the administration so wants this question. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang has been covering this very complex story. He's on the line.

Good morning, Hansi.

HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE⁴: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: How do these two things relate - the fight in Congress to investigate and the lawsuit⁵?

WANG: Well, the fight in Congress involves the House Oversight⁶ and Reform Committee, which has been in a battle for months with the Trump administration over documents, internal emails and memos⁷ that the Democrats⁸ on this committee say they want to see as part of their oversight duties.

And now that the committee has voted to hold U.S. Attorney General William Barr, as well as Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt - and Ross, by the way, oversees⁹ the Census Bureau. Now that this contempt vote has been passed, the chair of the committee, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, can go directly to the courts and ask the courts to force the Trump administration to release unredacted versions of these documents that the Democrats want to see. Those documents can provide, maybe, additional evidence that could be helpful to the plaintiffs in these ongoing¹⁰ legal battles over the citizenship¹¹ question and could provide more insight into exactly why the Trump administration wants to add this question to the 2020 census.

INSKEEP: OK, so they're not being sought for the lawsuit, but they could affect the lawsuit. And I wonder if this helps explain a new development in the lawsuit. Even though time seems to be very, very short with the census coming right up, advocacy groups are asking the Supreme Court to delay their judgment¹² on this. Why?

WANG: The plaintiffs in one of the New York-based lawsuits¹³ - they're led by the ACLU - are saying that other documents that were recently disclosed - these were documents of a GOP redistricting strategist who died last year, Thomas Hofeller. These documents, the plaintiffs here argue, could - are evidence, they say, that the Trump administration allegedly was part of a cover-up. The real reason that they believe - the plaintiffs here - they believe that the reason for a citizenship question is to politically benefit Republicans and non-Hispanic white people in the next round of redistricting after the 2020 census.

The Trump administration says that Thomas Hofeller did not play any role in the official request for a citizenship question. But the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee also want to get to the bottom of this. And they say that they want to bring more light to understanding exactly why this question was added because there's so much concern about this question - that it could harm the accuracy of the 2020 census.

INSKEEP: So there are documents from this outsider saying that the purpose for such a plan would be to benefit Republicans specifically and non-Hispanic whites. That's documented. The question is whether people inside the administration embrace that view. And those are the documents that are at issue both for the lawsuit and for Congress?

WANG: No. There are a lot of documents at issue.

INSKEEP: OK.

WANG: But Congress is interested in internal emails within the Justice Department and also Commerce Department, portions of which have already been released, but there are lots of redactions. And the question here is whether those redactions reveal any additional insight into whether or not the Trump administration - why it wants this question and if it really has anything to do with the Voting Rights Act.

INSKEEP: NPR's Hansi Lo Wang. His reporting is always on the air here unredacted.

Hansi, thanks so much.

WANG: You're welcome.

INSKEEP: And he'll bring us more as we learn it.

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1 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。

2 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。

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 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。

5 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

6 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。

7 memos   

n.备忘录( memo的名词复数 )；（美）内部通知

参考例句：

• Big shots get their dander up and memos start flying. 大人物们怒火中烧，备忘录四下乱飞。 来自辞典例句
• There was a pile of mail, memos and telephone messages on his desk. 他的办公桌上堆满着信件、备忘录和电话通知。 来自辞典例句

8 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》

9 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

10 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

11 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。

12 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

13 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句