PBS高端访谈:法官将会对总统的任命权加以控制

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: The U.S. Supreme¹ Court handed down a pair of unanimous decisions today in two high-profile cases. In one, the court reined³ in the appointment powers of the president. The justices ruled that President Obama's temporary appointments to the National Labor⁴ Relations Board in 2012 were illegal because Congress wasn't in recess⁵.

　　The justices also struck down a 35-foot buffer⁶ zone prohibiting protests outside abortion⁷ clinics in Massachusetts, finding that the limit violated the First Amendment⁸ rights of demonstrators.

　　Marcia Coyle of "The National Law Journal" was at the court this morning, and she joins us now.

　　MARCIA COYLE, The National Law Journal: Judy.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Marcia, let's take this case involving presidential powers first.

　　MARCIA COYLE: OK.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: This case was brought by a canning company, and, as we said, it had to do with the president making appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.

　　MARCIA COYLE: That's right.

　　And did he use that pursuant to his power under the recess appointments clause in the Constitution. Judy, it's surprising that, in more than 200 years, the Supreme Court has never looked at the scope or meaning of the recess appointments clause.

　　They had really no prior decisions to rely on in this case, but they had three questions they had to answer because of the lower court ruling that really was in favor of the Washington state bottling company that was fighting a ruling by the NLRB that it had engaged in an unfair labor practice with its union.

　　So, the justices in — even though this was a unanimous decision, Judy, it's important to note that it was only unanimous in the end result, that these three appointments were invalid⁹. The justices really split 5-4 on how you reach that result.

　　And it was a very sharp 5-4 split. Justice Breyer wrote for — really wrote the main opinion for the majority that included the court's more moderate liberal members, as well as Justice Kennedy.

　　And what he did was, he looked at the meaning of the words in the recess clause "the recess" and also looked at the purpose of the clause, which was to ensure the smooth functioning of government when there are vacancies¹⁰, and gave considerable weight to historical practices of presidents and the Senate.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: It really did come down to the definition that they could agree on what is a recess.

　　MARCIA COYLE: Right, exactly.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, what does it mean? What is the Senate doing or not doing during that period, so that the president can make appointments without Senate confirmation¹¹?

　　MARCIA COYLE: Exactly.

　　And what the majority held here was, one, the president can make appointments during any recess that is at least 10 days or longer. The issue came up that — or the lower court had held only between annual sessions of Congress, not intra-session recesses¹². But the court said any recess that's at least 10 days or longer.

　　The other issue that was very important to this particular case was whether the president could make appointments to fill vacancies during breaks between pro² forma sessions of Congress. In this case, there were three-day breaks. And the Senate said it was in session, it wasn't in recess.

　　But the majority here held — and, actually, this was unanimous — that the Senate determines when it is in recess, and as long as it's capable of being able to do business, it's in session. And that was the case with these three appointments. Consequently, the appointments were invalid.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: And, as you point out, it was unanimous in the result, but the justices differed in their reasoning.

　　MARCIA COYLE: Yes.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: In fact, some pretty tough language from the more conservative justices.

　　MARCIA COYLE: Very, very tough.

　　Justice Scalia read a summary of what would be the dissent¹³ from the bench. And he was joined by the chief, as well as Justices Thomas and Alito. And he said he disagreed completely with the majority's view of what the meaning of the words recess were or when does a vacancy¹⁴ arise. That was another key issue in the case. The majority said that the president can fill vacancies that occur during a recess, as well as preexisting vacancies.

　　And he disagreed strongly with the interpretation¹⁵ of the history of practices of prior presidents. And he accused the majority of making up rules here and of judicial¹⁶ adventurism. But Justice Breyer came back at him and said that, under the dissenting¹⁷ view, thousands of recess appointments would have been invalidated under that view.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: And it's interesting. The other big decision they handed down today, also unanimous, but the reasoning differed among the justices again.

　　MARCIA COYLE: Again. Again.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: This one, of course, had to do with Massachusetts law, a ban on anti-abortion activists¹⁸ being able to be in an area outside of abortion clinics.

　　MARCIA COYLE: Well, it actually was a 35-foot buffer zone, so it wasn't just anti-abortion protesters.

　　It could be pro-abortion rights protesters as well. But it kept out everybody except clinic employees and people who needed to walk through that area in order to get to another destination. And, here, Chief Justice Roberts wrote the opinion, which was a surprise as well, because he didn't ask one question during the oral arguments in this case.

　　But he said in his opinion that where Massachusetts went wrong here was that it didn't narrowly tailor what it was doing to the problem it was trying to solve. It wanted to have order on the streets. It wanted to protect public safety, as well as the women's safety, but the buffer zone burdened too much speech.

　　And these women who brought the challenge, who really were anti-abortion activists, they were not protesters, he said. They wanted to engage in quiet counseling of these women. And the buffer zone prevented them from their two primary tools, which was face-to-face conversations and distributing leaflets and information.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: But the liberal justices agreed with the final definition.

　　MARCIA COYLE: They did.

　　And I think here what was important was the Supreme Court was urged by anti-abortion groups, but didn't overrule a prior 2000 precedent¹⁹ on buffer zones. And, also, the chief justice said the law itself didn't discriminate²⁰ on the basis of viewpoint. It didn't favor anti-abortion or pro-abortion over one or the other.

　　Justice — the dissenters²¹ again here, Justice Scalia writing, said that it did discriminate on the basis of viewpoint, and the court should have struck it down on that basis and should have thrown out that 2000 precedent.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: It's still unusual, I guess, to get two unanimous rulings on the same day.

　　MARCIA COYLE: There's been quite a bit of unanimity²² this term, Judy.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: All right, well, you're the expert.

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Marcia, just very quickly, only one more day…

　　MARCIA COYLE: Monday.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: … when this — of this term, when the justices can hand down. And there are some cases you're looking for.

　　MARCIA COYLE: There are two left. One is a very important union case. And the other is the challenge by the religious owners of for-profit corporations to the contraceptive requirement in the Affordable²³ Care Act.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: I have a feeling you're going to be right back here on Monday.

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　MARCIA COYLE: I think so.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Marcia Coyle, thank you.

　　MARCIA COYLE: My pleasure, Judy.

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 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

3 reined   

勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理

参考例句：

• Then, all of a sudden, he reined up his tired horse. 这时，他突然把疲倦的马勒住了。
• The officer reined in his horse at a crossroads. 军官在十字路口勒住了马。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

6 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

7 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。

8 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

9 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

10 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。

12 recesses   

n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭

参考例句：

• I could see the inmost recesses. 我能看见最深处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I had continually pushed my doubts to the darker recesses of my mind. 我一直把怀疑深深地隐藏在心中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

14 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

15 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。

16 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

17 dissenting   

adj.不同意的

参考例句：

• He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
• A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。

18 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

20 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

21 dissenters   

n.持异议者，持不同意见者( dissenter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He attacked the indulgence shown to religious dissenters. 他抨击对宗教上持不同政见者表现出的宽容。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• (The dissenters would have allowed even more leeway to the Secretary.) （持异议者还会给行政长官留有更多的余地。） 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

22 unanimity   

n.全体一致，一致同意

参考例句：

• These discussions have led to a remarkable unanimity.这些讨论导致引人注目的一致意见。
• There is no unanimity of opinion as to the best one.没有一个公认的最好意见。

23 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。