纽约时报 美保障堕胎权法案拟被推翻--为中期选举铺路(3)

 

 

    In recent months, the congressional investigation¹ into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol revealed that Ginni Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, had urged President Donald J. Trump's chief of staff to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

    近几个月来，国会对2021年1月6日国会山袭击案的调查显示，大法官克拉伦斯·托马斯的妻子金妮·托马斯曾力劝唐纳德·特朗普总统的幕僚长推翻2020年大选的结果。

    For decades, Americans have told pollsters roughly two to one that they support a constitutional right to abortion²;几十年来，在民意调查中，大约有半数的美国人表示支持宪法赋予的堕胎权利;as recently as last week, in a Washington Post-ABC News poll, 54 percent of Americans said Roe³ should be upheld, compared with 28 percent who wanted justices to reverse it.

    就在上周，在华盛顿邮报-ABC新闻的一项民意调查中，54%的美国人认为罗伊案的判决应该得到支持，相比之下，28%的人希望法官推翻该判决。

    When the challenge to Roe — in a case about Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban — was argued in December, and it became clear that five justices were ready then to overrule the decision, Justice Sonia Sotomayor articulated the public's gathering⁴ suspicion.

    当对罗伊案的质疑——这是一个关于密西西比州15周堕胎禁令的案件——在12月进行辩论时，很明显有5名法官准备推翻判决，大法官索尼娅·索托马约尔明确表达了公众日益增长的怀疑。

    "Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?" Justice Sotomayor asked.

    “在公众认为宪法及其解读只是政治行为的印象中，这个机构能挺过这种恶臭吗?” 索托马约尔法官问道。

    This week the sense of unease spread from the corridors of power to coffee shops on Main Street.

    本周，不安的感觉从权力走廊蔓延到主街的咖啡馆。

    Even some Republicans expressed alarm at the court after the leaked draft of Justice Alito's scornful dismissal of Roe.

    在阿利托法官轻蔑地驳回罗伊案判决的草案泄露后，就连一些共和党人也对最高法院表示了担忧。

    "It rocks my confidence in the court right now," said Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, one of the few Republicans in the Senate who support abortion rights.

    “这件事现在动摇了我对法院的信心，”来自阿拉斯加州的参议员丽莎·穆尔科斯基说。她是参议院中少数支持堕胎权的共和党人之一。

    Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, a Republican with a reputation for independence who presides over the Ohio Supreme⁵ Court, was particularly taken aback at the spectacle of a leaking scandal at the nation's highest court.

    首席大法官莫琳·奥康纳是一位以独立而闻名的共和党人，目前她担任俄亥俄州最高法院的院长。她对美国最高法院爆出的泄密丑闻尤其感到震惊。

    "I'm not shocked very easily. This shocked me," she said. "This is just not done."“我不太容易被惊到。 但这让我很震惊，”她说。 “这还没有实施。”

    As Janna Carney, 35, picked up lunch near the downtown Los Angeles office where she works as a creative director in advertising,35岁的詹娜·卡尼在洛杉矶市中心的办公室附近吃午饭，她在那里担任广告创意总监。

    she said of the justices, "I liked the idea they couldn't be owned by anybody, because you can't vote for them, they're not running campaigns."她在谈到大法官时说，“我愿意接受的想法是--他们不归任何人管，因为你不能为他们投票，他们没有竞选活动。”

    Now, she said, she has trouble regarding them as neutral arbiters⁷.

    她说，现在她很难将他们视为中立的仲裁者。

    The country seems to have slipped so far into "red team vs. blue team" thinking that "we don't have these nine impartial⁸ judges, we count them as team members," she said.

    她说，这个国家似乎已经陷入了“红队对蓝队”的状态，认为“我们没有这九位不偏不倚的法官，那么我们就把他们视为队员”。

    "It feels like our whole system is crumbling⁹. It feels like we're Rome and this is the fall."“感觉我们的整个体系正在崩溃。 感觉我们是罗马，现在是堕落时期。”

    Others see the same thing, that justices are no longer independent voices who can evolve over time, moving left or right, but akin⁶ to a political slate¹⁰.

    其他人也看到了同样的事情，法官不再是独立的声音，他们可以随着时间的推移而改变，移向左翼或者右翼，但是却类似于一个政治资助。

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 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。

3 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 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。

6 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

7 arbiters   

仲裁人，裁决者( arbiter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In the forensicfield, the final arbiters of quality are the courts. 在法医学领域，质量的最后仲裁者是法庭。
• They are, increasingly, arbiters of which types of borrowers get credit. 它们正越来越多地充当决定哪几种借款人可获得信贷的裁决人角色。

8 impartial   

adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的

参考例句：

• He gave an impartial view of the state of affairs in Ireland.他对爱尔兰的事态发表了公正的看法。
• Careers officers offer impartial advice to all pupils.就业指导员向所有学生提供公正无私的建议。

9 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

10 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？