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VOA慢速英语2012 THIS IS AMERICA - US Supreme Court Upholds Healthcare Law, Strikes Down Much of Immigration Law

时间:2012-07-10 03:32:39

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THIS IS AMERICA - US Supreme1 Court Upholds Healthcare Law, Strikes Down Much of Immigration Law

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Christopher Cruise.

Today, we will look at the recent United States Supreme Court rulings that upheld President Obama’s health care law and cancelled parts of Arizona’s immigration law. We also report on a case that dealt with the sentencing of murderers under the age of eighteen.

(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: In early twenty-ten, Congress approved -- and President Obama signed into law -- The Patient Protection and Affordable2 Care Act. The law came to be known as “Obamacare.” It is the most important legislative3 priority of the Obama administration. The law was written to help Americans with rising health care costs and the often serious financial problems many Americans have with health care.

In the law is what is called an “individual mandate4.” And, this mandate requires every American citizen to have health insurance by twenty-fourteen or face a financial penalty. 

Among the law’s supporters are those who believe health care is a right, not a privilege. But many are opposed to the law. In fact, twenty-six states sued to overturn it. They said the Constitution does not permit Congress to force people to buy a product they may neither want nor need.

But, public opinion studies show some parts of the law are very popular with Americans. They include requiring insurance companies to pay for preventative health care and banning limits on the amount of money insurance companies pay for care. Also popular is a ban on denying insurance for people who already have health problems. This is usually called a preexisting condition. The law also permits people to be covered by their parent’s insurance until age twenty-six.

Many people on both sides of the debate were surprised when the Court upheld the law, by a vote of five to four. The decision was a major victory for the president. In the majority was Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative who was believed to be against the individual mandate. But he joined with liberals on the Court in calling the mandate a tax. He said the Constitution and the Court’s own rulings have established that Congress has the power to impose a tax.

President Obama called the ruling a victory for Americans who cannot afford health care.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:”I know there will be a lot of discussion today about the politics of all this, about who won and who lost, that’s how these things tend to be viewed here in Washington. But that discussion completely misses the point. Whatever the politics, today’s decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives will be more secure because of this law and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold it.”

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Some parts of the law go into effect before the presidential election this November. Mr. Obama’s expected challenger in the twenty-twelve election -- Republican Mitt5 Romney -- was disappointed with the ruling.

If Republicans keep control of the House and gain control of the Senate, and if Mr. Romney wins this November’s election, the law could be cancelled next year.

(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Moving across America to the western state of Arizona, the Supreme Court dealt with an entirely6 different problem: Immigration. The Supreme Court cancelled most of a state law that affected7 immigrants. The court agreed with the Obama administration that immigration laws must be passed and enforced by the federal government, not by states.

The Court struck down three parts of the law, but upheld one disputed part. The Court said police officers in Arizona who have what the court called “reasonable suspicions” may check the immigration status of people who had been stopped for other reasons.

But the Court -- with a majority of five justices -- cancelled the part of the law that makes it a crime for immigrants without work permits to try to find a job. It also said it was not a crime for immigrants to not have registration8 documents with them. And it said police could not arrest any immigrant whom they believe could be removed from the country. Justices in the minority said all parts of the law should be upheld.

Arizona lawmakers passed the law in twenty-ten. State leaders said it was necessary to stop illegal immigrants from coming into the state, mostly from South and Central America. They said the federal government has failed to fully9 enforce national immigration laws.

Opponents of the law -- including Hispanic groups -- said it forces police to make stops and arrests based on a person’s race or ethnicity.

(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: The Supreme Court has ruled that states may not require judges to sentence murderers under the age of eighteen, to prison with no chance of release. By a vote of five to four the Court agreed with opponents of these mandatory10 “life without parole” sentences that they violate the Constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Opponents of these sentences strongly objected to the fact that some states require judges to impose them. These mandatory-sentencing laws remove from judges the ability to consider what happened in the young person’s life before they committed a murder. The Court ruled that judges must consider the young person’s age and the type of crime he or she committed before sentencing them to life in prison without a chance for release. The ruling does not ban these sentences, just the state laws that require them.

Opponents of the state laws said these sentences do not consider that children, under the age of eighteen, can be rehabilitated11, that they can change for the better as they grow older. Supporters of the sentences say they are very rarely used and should be permitted for especially brutal12 murders.

The federal government and most of the American states permit young people under the age of eighteen - called juveniles14 - to be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of release. There are about two thousand people now serving a “life without the possibility of parole” sentence for murders they committed when they were under the age of eighteen.

A sentence of life without parole for juvenile13 murderers was first imposed in the United States in nineteen seventy-one. Since then, seventy-nine juveniles have received the sentence for murders they committed when they were fourteen or younger. Of those seventy-nine juveniles, more than half were sentenced in states that have no minimum age for trying children as adults. About ten states permit children as young as twelve to be sentenced to life without parole if they are convicted of murder.

Some states require such sentences for juveniles. In those states a judge is not permitted to consider the murderer’s age and life experiences. Lawyers call these conditions “mitigating15 circumstances” – and they are reasons why the sentence might not be as severe as it could be. These reasons might include the criminal’s mental capacity or the fact that they were being abused by the person when they committed the crime. These circumstances do not excuse the crime, but might provide a judge with a reason to impose what is called a “lesser sentence.” Mandatory sentences -- now banned by the Supreme Court -- removed this “discretion” from judges.

Opponents of the life without parole sentence believe eighty percent of juveniles who received the sentence received it in states where such a punishment is required.

Supporters of life without parole sentences say the mitigating circumstances, if any, had already been considered when the decision was made to remove the case from juvenile court. They say only the most brutal murder cases are moved to adult court.

Opponents of life without parole sentences say the United States is one of the few countries that send young murderers to prison without a chance that they will someday be released. But a victims’ rights group called The National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Lifers strongly disputes this. It says at least thirteen other countries sentence juvenile killers16 to life without parole, including Australia, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates. And it says some countries give sentences of hundreds of years, which it says is the same as life without parole.

Somalia and the United States are the only two countries that have not signed the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child. That Convention does not permit sentences of life without parole for juveniles. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International also oppose the sentencing of juveniles to life in prison without parole.

In recent years, the Supreme Court has changed the way juveniles are treated by the criminal justice system. In two thousand five, the Court said people could not be executed for murders they committed when they were juveniles. And in twenty-ten the Court ruled that sending juveniles to life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes that do not involve killing17 was unconstitutional. These rulings caused some Court observers to say that they are not surprised by the Court’s recent ruling that bans mandatory sentences of life without parole. To be clear, the ruling does permit such sentences but said state laws that do not let judges consider mitigating circumstances are unconstitutional because they are “cruel and unusual.”

(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: I’m Christopher Cruise.

You can find links to transcripts18 and recordings19 of the oral arguments on our newly-redesigned website www.voanews.cn. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 supreme PHqzc     
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 affordable kz6zfq     
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。
3 legislative K9hzG     
n.立法机构,立法权;adj.立法的,有立法权的
参考例句:
  • Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
  • Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。
4 mandate sj9yz     
n.托管地;命令,指示
参考例句:
  • The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
  • The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。
5 mitt Znszwo     
n.棒球手套,拳击手套,无指手套;vt.铐住,握手
参考例句:
  • I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日,我送给他一只棒球手套。
  • Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。
6 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
7 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
8 registration ASKzO     
n.登记,注册,挂号
参考例句:
  • Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
  • What's your registration number?你挂的是几号?
9 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
10 mandatory BjTyz     
adj.命令的;强制的;义务的;n.受托者
参考例句:
  • It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
  • There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。
11 rehabilitated 9f0df09d5d67098e9f9374ad9b9e4e75     
改造(罪犯等)( rehabilitate的过去式和过去分词 ); 使恢复正常生活; 使恢复原状; 修复
参考例句:
  • He has been rehabilitated in public esteem. 公众已恢复对他的敬重。
  • Young persons need to be, wherever possible, rehabilitated rather than punished. 未成年人需要受到尽可能的矫正而不是惩罚。
12 brutal bSFyb     
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的
参考例句:
  • She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
  • They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼,骨子里却是野蛮残忍。
13 juvenile OkEy2     
n.青少年,少年读物;adj.青少年的,幼稚的
参考例句:
  • For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人,他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
  • Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。
14 juveniles 257c9101f917ec8748aa5fc520c6a9e3     
n.青少年( juvenile的名词复数 );扮演少年角色的演员;未成年人
参考例句:
  • Do you think that punishment for violent crimes should be the same for juveniles and adults? 你对暴力犯罪的惩罚对于青少年和成人应一样吗? 来自生活英语口语25天快训
  • Juveniles Should we not exactly in need of such strength and conviction? 少年的我们难道不正是需要这种力量和信念吗? 来自互联网
15 mitigating 465c18cfa2b0e25daca50035121a4217     
v.减轻,缓和( mitigate的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Are there any mitigating circumstances in this case ? 本案中是否有任何情况可以减轻被告的罪行? 来自辞典例句
  • A sentencing judge is required to consider any mitigating circumstances befor imposing the death penalty. 在处死刑之前,要求量刑法官必须考虑是否有任何减轻罪行之情节。 来自口语例句
16 killers c1a8ff788475e2c3424ec8d3f91dd856     
凶手( killer的名词复数 ); 消灭…者; 致命物; 极难的事
参考例句:
  • He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
  • They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。
17 killing kpBziQ     
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
参考例句:
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
18 transcripts 525c0b10bb61e5ddfdd47d7faa92db26     
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本
参考例句:
  • Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样,都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
  • You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书,你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句
19 recordings 22f9946cd05973582e73e4e3c0239bb7     
n.记录( recording的名词复数 );录音;录像;唱片
参考例句:
  • a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
  • old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

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