IN THE NEWS - Conservatives, Liberals Criticize Bush's Choic

IN THE NEWS - Conservatives, Liberals Criticize Bush's Choice for Court
By Nancy Steinbach and Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Saturday, October 08, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Supreme¹ Court nominee² Harriet Miers has been visiting senators this week to press her case for confirmation³. On Monday, President Bush nominated Miz Miers to the court to fill a place created by the resignation of Sandra Day O'Connor.

The president says Miz Miers is the best person for the job. She is serving now as his lawyer, the White House counsel.

Some liberals and conservatives have criticized President Bush for nominating her. They note that she has never served as a judge. For this reason, there are no rulings to show what her opinions might be on issues.

 
President Bush and Harriet Miers 
Some say this could make her a poor choice for the job. For example, Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas has said that he does not have enough information about her. He is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee will vote on her nomination⁴ before sending it to the full Senate for a final vote.

Some conservatives say she does not seem conservative enough to change the direction of the court, as President Bush had promised. Some liberals say they fear she will vote what they consider the wrong way on issues such as a woman's right to end a pregnancy⁵.

Miz Miers is sixty years old. She is from Texas. She received her bachelor's and law degrees from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Miz Miers has received high praise as a lawyer. She was the first woman president of the Dallas Bar Association. Later she became the first woman president of the Texas State Bar Association. The National Law Journal has named her among the one hundred most powerful lawyers in the nation, and the top fifty women lawyers.

Dallas voters elected her to a two-year term on the City Council.

Some critics say her loyalty⁶ to the president could present a conflict of interest on future court decisions. Harriet Miers worked for Mister Bush when he was elected governor of Texas. She joined the White House in two thousand one as an assistant to the president. She has served as his personal lawyer since February.

The Supreme Court opened its term on Monday. That happened just one hour after John Roberts was sworn in as chief justice of the United States. Mister Roberts follows William Rehnquist who died of cancer in September.

John Roberts was the president's first choice for the Supreme Court seat left open when Miz O'Connor resigned. But when Mister Rehnquist died, President Bush nominated Mister Roberts for chief justice.

This week, the court heard arguments about cases including one about the rights of the dying. The Bush administration wants to punish doctors in the state of Oregon who help patients end their lives. This assistance is currently legal under state law. Miz O'Connor heard the case argued. She has offered to stay on the court until her replacement⁷ is confirmed.

IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English was written by Nancy Steinbach and Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember.

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 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 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。

4 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

5 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

6 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

7 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。