2020年经济学人 美国最高法院大法官鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格(2)

And she especially attacked the striking down, in 2013, of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v Holder¹, on the supposition that racism² had waned³ enough to discard it. That, she wrote, was “like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” Being contrary, she needed to be extra sharp. She took pride in the speed with which she wrote opinions, and in their clarity. Twice a week she lifted weights, did push-ups and generally honed herself into a lean, Armani-clad contender.

鲁斯特别抨击了2013年谢尔比县诉霍尔德案中推翻投票权法案第五部分的行为，她认为种族主义已经减弱到足以抛弃它。她写道，这“就像在暴风雨中，因为你没有淋湿而扔掉雨伞。”相反，她需要格外敏锐。她为自己写意见的速度和条理清晰而自豪。鲁斯每周举重两次，做俯卧撑，把自己锻炼成一个瘦削的、穿着阿玛尼服装的竞争者。

In oral argument she liked to leap in first, keen to establish at the start whether the plaintiff had really been damaged, or not. (Her shy, soft, pause-filled delivery off the bench really speeded up then, to Brooklyn fast.) She often announced her dissents⁴ orally, from the bench, to show how much she disagreed, and in the trying 5 to 4 years when she regularly led the dissenters⁶ she made sure they spoke⁷ with one voice. On those days she wore her “dissenting collar”, a grey, stony⁸, quietly menacing number. It fitted the occasion nicely.

在口头辩论中，她喜欢抢先一步，急于在一开始就确定原告是否真的受到了损害。(她在法官席上腼腆、温柔、停顿的讲话速度真的加快了，快到了布鲁克林。)她经常在法官席上口头宣布她的不同意见，以表明她有多不同意，在难熬的四五年时间中，当她定期领导异议者时，她确保他们用一个声音说话。在那些日子里，她戴着“异议领”，那是一件灰色的、石质的、有威胁性的领子。它很适合那个场合。

Yet she did not see herself as disruptive, let alone an activist⁹. If she became more of a dissenter⁵ with the years, it was because the court, after 2006, swung over to the activist right. At heart she was still what she had always been, a judicial¹⁰ minimalist. She was stunned¹¹ by the lack of caution in the Roe¹² v Waderuling of 1973 that legalised abortion¹³; though she certainly approved of the outcome, reform should have come through state legislatures, where it was slowly starting to appear. She was shocked too when the court, while upholding Obamacare, found it illegal under the commerce clause of the constitution; that had been Congress’s domain¹⁴ since the 1930s.

然而，鲁斯并不认为自己是破坏性的，更不用说是一名激进分子。如果随着时间的推移，她变得更加持不同意见，那是因为2006年之后，最高法院转向了激进的右派。在内心深处，鲁斯仍然是她一直以来的样子，一个极简主义者。1973年罗伊诉瓦德鲁林案使堕胎合法化，鲁斯对该案缺乏谨慎感到震惊；尽管她肯定赞同这一结果，但改革应该通过州立法机构进行，在那里，改革已经开始慢慢显现。还使他感到震惊的一件事是，法院支持奥巴马医改，根据宪法的商业条款，这是非法的；自上世纪30年代以来，这一直是国会的地盘。

1 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

2 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

3 waned   

v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• However,my enthusiasm waned.The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. 然而，我的热情减退了。我在做操上花的时间逐渐减少了。 来自《用法词典》
• The bicycle craze has waned. 自行车热已冷下去了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 dissents   

意见的分歧( dissent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even his dissents were widely quoted, and some prompted legislative changes. 甚至他那些异议也被广泛引用，而且有的还促成了法律上的修改。

5 dissenter   

n.反对者

参考例句：

• The role of the dissenter is not for the weak-kneed.反对者的角色不是软弱之人所能够担当的。
• The Party does not tolerate dissenters in its ranks.该政党不允许其成员中存在异见分子。

6 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

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

9 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

10 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。

11 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

12 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？

13 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。

14 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。