美国国家公共电台 NPR Supreme Court Hears Arguments Remotely, Making Livestream Pub

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

The U.S. Supreme¹ Court will begin an extraordinary two weeks of oral arguments today. For the first time in history, the court will actually livestream its audio. Arguments will be heard on the telephone rather than in person. Here's NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE²: The justices are trying to simulate their normal arguments as much as possible, beginning with Chief Marshal Pamela Talkin calling the court to order with a modified version of her usual cry.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PAMELA TALKIN: Oyez, oyez, oyez. All persons having business before the honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished³ to draw near and give their attention, for the court is now sitting. God save the United States and this honorable court.

TOTENBERG: Because the justices and the lawyers cannot see one another, we'll all try to imagine where they're sitting or standing⁴ in their homes to hear or to present arguments. The arguments are limited to a half hour on each side. The lawyers we sampled, to a person, said they're more comfortable standing or even standing at a lectern, as they usually do, even though nobody can see them.

Each side, as usual, will get to make an opening argument for two minutes uninterrupted. Under normal circumstances, after that, the justices engage in rapid fire questioning of the lawyers, interrupting counsel frequently and even, on occasion, each other. But today, the justices will question in order of seniority, with the chief justice starting off, then Justice Clarence Thomas, if he has any questions - which he rarely does - then Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, et cetera. Court sources say each justice has been allotted⁵ two or three minutes for questioning, with more questions permitted if there's time left at the end of the first round. Lawyers say there will be big challenges.

JAY SEKULOW: Well, you lose the ability to read body language. I think that's No. 1.

TOTENBERG: Lawyer Jay Sekulow will be representing President Trump⁶ next week in a case testing whether the president can block a state grand jury subpoena⁷ for his presidential financial records in a criminal case. As Sekulow observes...

SEKULOW: It's a pretty intimate event when you're actually arguing in the courtroom. You see them. You can see their reactions. You see if they nod to each other. Here you're doing this literally⁸ over a telephone line, so you lose the intimacy⁹, I think.

TOTENBERG: Stanford law professor Jeff Fisher, who will be arguing a religion case a week from today, agrees.

JEFF FISHER: I just feel like not being able to see their faces and body language is going to be a real challenge. It is a cost for how effective and useful the arguments are going to be.

TOTENBERG: Today's only case presents a trademark¹⁰ question, not exactly the kind of thing to rivet¹¹ public attention. Clearly, the court is using this relatively¹² unimportant argument to see how the system is working, whether it needs to be adjusted in any way. In short, the court scheduled this one first to work out the bugs¹³.

Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

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 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。

3 admonished   

v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责

参考例句：

• She was admonished for chewing gum in class. 她在课堂上嚼口香糖，受到了告诫。
• The teacher admonished the child for coming late to school. 那个孩子迟到，老师批评了他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 allotted   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
• Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。

6 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。

7 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

8 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

9 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

10 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

11 rivet   

n.铆钉；vt.铆接，铆牢；集中(目光或注意力)

参考例句：

• They were taught how to bore rivet holes in the sides of ships.有人教他们如何在船的舷侧钻铆孔。
• The rivet heads are in good condition and without abrasion.铆钉钉头状况良好，并无过度磨损。

12 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

13 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》