2007年VOA标准英语-Conservatives Hold Edge on US Supreme Court

By Jim Fry
Washington
11 July 2007
 

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Supreme Court Justices, with Justice Anthony Kennedy pictured in center

Conservative judges now dominate the U.S. Supreme Court.  In the first full term since two of President Bush's appointees took their seats, rulings by the high court turned robustly² to the right.  Still, the nine-member panel is closely divided and not always reliably conservative.  VOA's Jim Fry reports.

It was the first full term for President Bush's two conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court -- Associate Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts.

Civil libertarian Ralph Neas of People for the American Way, which led the liberal opposition³ to the two appointments, says, "The court has moved far to the right."

But conservative legal scholar Naomi Rao disagrees with his analysis. "I think it's really too early to tell exactly what is going to happen with this court."

The high court decided⁴ 24 cases by a margin⁵ of just one vote and conservatives prevailed in 19 of them. Roberts and Alito and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas were joined by Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Among those rulings: 
  - The court upheld a ban on a form of late term abortion⁶.
  - Justices made it easier for prosecutors⁷ to remove jurors who might oppose the death penalty.
  - They limited local school districts' ability to use race to assign students in desegregation efforts.

Law professor Jonathan Turley has followed the court, written about it and commented on its decisions for two decades. "These are young justices -- Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito -- and they have shown that they have got a stable five-justice majority."

Moderates and liberals on the court won five of the one-vote margins⁸. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens, Steven Breyer and David Souter were joined in those rulings by Kennedy. 

In one example, they ruled the federal government can limit car emissions⁹ in order to control gasses that contribute to global warming.

Kennedy -- on the winning side in every close case -- has become the court's crucial swing vote. But Turley says he is tacking¹⁰ rightward. "In many ways, Justice Kennedy has sort of run home.  He has become a more reliable conservative."

In their confirmation¹¹ hearings, Chief Justice Roberts and Alito both told the U.S. Senate they were inclined to follow the legal doctrine¹² called "stare decisis" -- a principle based on established legal precedent¹³.

Some conservatives say the Roberts court has not boldly overturned precedents¹⁴ established by a more liberal court two or more decades ago.  And Rao, who clerked for Thomas, says both he and Scalia appear irritated and unhappy.

"Some of the concurring¹⁵ opinions -- especially the ones that Justice Scalia wrote -- were rather angry and very critical of the chief justice's 'pose' of minimalism," says Rao.

The court made an abrupt¹⁶ turn on two cases involving civil liberties. It tightened¹⁷ limits on student speech -- allowing a school administrator¹⁸ to punish high school students who unfurled a banner interpreted as celebrating drug use.

And justices limited the ability of schools to assign students on the basis of race in efforts to integrate public schools. It is a decision that could affect classrooms across the U.S.  "Literally¹⁹, there are hundreds -- if not thousands -- of ways race is used.  All of those are now suspect and so it can mean a very significant change,” Turley said.

Change is what President Bush promised on the court.  Even as his popularity and power now wane²⁰, Mr. Bush's new justices will guide the law for a generation or more.

Turley adds, "He changed the Supreme Court.  The court changed the law and that changed the country.  That is a legacy²¹ by any definition of the term."

The fight now moves into the political arena²² as voters decide whether a Democrat²³ or Republican will succeed Mr. Bush in the White House. Ralph Neas says liberals will push for change. "We think the Supreme Court's future is the most important issue facing America in 2008 in these elections."

It is the sort of activism conservatives practiced over three decades in their successful campaign to wrest²⁴ control of America's highest court.

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 robustly   

adv.要用体力地，粗鲁地

参考例句：

• These three hormones also robustly stimulated thymidine incorporation and inhibited drug-induced apoptosis. 并且这三种激素有利于胸（腺嘧啶脱氧核）苷掺入和抑制药物诱导的细胞凋亡。 来自互联网
• The economy is still growing robustly, but inflation, It'seems, is back. 经济依然强劲增长，但是通胀似乎有所抬头。 来自互联网

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

6 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。

7 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

8 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

9 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

10 tacking   

（帆船）抢风行驶，定位焊[铆]紧钉

参考例句：

• He was tacking about on this daily though perilous voyage. 他在进行这种日常的、惊险的航行。
• He spent the afternoon tacking the pictures. 他花了一个下午的时间用图钉固定那些图片。

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 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

13 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。

14 precedents   

引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例

参考例句：

• There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
• He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。

15 concurring   

同时发生的，并发的

参考例句：

• Concurring with expectations, the degree of polymorphism was highest in the central. 正如所料，多型性程度在中部种群中最高。
• The more an affect arises from a number of causes concurring together, the greater it is. 同时凑合起来以激起一个情感的原因愈多，则这个情感将必愈大。

16 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

17 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

18 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

19 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

20 wane   

n.衰微，亏缺，变弱；v.变小，亏缺，呈下弦

参考例句：

• The moon is on the wane.月亮渐亏。
• Her enthusiasm for him was beginning to wane.她对他的热情在开始减退。

21 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

22 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

23 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

24 wrest   

n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲

参考例句：

• The officer managed to wrest the gun from his grasp.警官最终把枪从他手中夺走了。
• You wrest my words out of their real meaning.你曲解了我话里的真正含义。