Biden is expected to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court

Biden is expected to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme¹ Court

Transcript²

President Biden is expected to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

President Biden has announced his pick to become the next justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. In a tweet, the president said federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is his nominee³. If confirmed by the Senate, Judge Brown Jackson would become the first Black woman to serve on the high court. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg is with us now. Hi, Nina.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE⁴: Hi there, Rachel.

MARTIN: So breaking news this morning - he has named his nominee. What can you tell us about Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson?

TOTENBERG: She's 51. She's been a judge since 2013. She sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, where she most recently was part of a unanimous panel that upheld a congressional subpoena⁵ for White House records related to the January 6 riots. And when former President Trump⁶ appealed to the Supreme Court, the justices left the appeals court ruling intact. Before President Biden elevated her to the appeals court, Jackson served for eight years as a federal trial court judge here in Washington, so she's got experience on two different kinds of courts.

MARTIN: In terms of her legal career, what was she doing before she was a judge?

TOTENBERG: The thing that you're going to hear a great deal about, for good or ill, and one of the reasons she was picked, I think, is that while four members of the current court were at one time prosecutors⁷, Jackson, if confirmed, would be the first Supreme Court justice since Thurgood Marshall to have represented indigent⁸ criminal defendants⁹. She's practiced at law firms large and small in addition and served as vice¹⁰ chairman of the U.S. Sentencing Commission at a time when it sought to reduce the draconian¹¹ penalties for crack cocaine¹², penalties that at the time were 100 times more severe than for powder cocaine. At the sentencing commission, she earned a reputation for building consensus¹³, and most of the panel's decisions were unanimous. And, you know, Rachel, for Jackson, sentencing is not an abstract matter. One uncle is a former Miami police chief, another was a sex crimes detective, and her younger brother was a Baltimore police undercover agent. But her family also has had experience with the scourge¹⁴ of drugs. Her father's oldest brother was sentenced to life in prison under a federal three strikes law aimed at repeat drug offenders¹⁵.

MARTIN: And she's a D.C. native, right?

TOTENBERG: Yes, she's a D.C. native. Her parents were both teachers here. Early on, the family moved to Florida, where her father went to law school and became the school board's top lawyer and her mother became the school principal. She went to Harvard College and Harvard Law School, graduating with honors and served as a law clerk for three judges, including the man she would replace, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

MARTIN: Does this change the composition of the court at all?

TOTENBERG: Not much in terms of the overall ideological¹⁶ balance. There will still be a 6-3 super majority for conservatives because she's replacing Justice Breyer, a fellow liberal who's retiring.

MARTIN: What kind of confirmation¹⁷ hearing is she likely to get? I mean, Democrats¹⁸ don't need Republicans in this moment, right?

TOTENBERG: Well, if they stick together, they don't. We got some clues to what they'll be like when President Biden nominated her to the D.C. Circuit. The hearing went relatively¹⁹ smoothly²⁰, but she got quite a grilling²¹ from some conservative senators on the Judiciary Committee who repeatedly asked her whether she believed in systemic racism²², whether that exists, and questioned her about a brief that she filed on behalf - in one of the Guantanamo cases on behalf of a group of judges who wanted to make the point that evidence obtained through torture should not be admitted at trial.

MARTIN: All right. We'll follow it closely. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg, thank you so much.

TOTENBERG: My pleasure.

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 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 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。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

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 indigent   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的

参考例句：

• The town government is responsible for assistance to indigent people.镇政府负责给穷人提供帮助。
• A judge normally appoints the attorney for an indigent defendant at the defendant's first court appearence.法官通常会在贫穷被告人第一次出庭时，为其指派一名辩护律师。

9 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。

12 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

13 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

14 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

15 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

16 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

17 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。

18 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

20 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

21 grilling   

v.烧烤( grill的现在分词 )；拷问，盘问

参考例句：

• The minister faced a tough grilling at today's press conference. 部长在今天的记者招待会上受到了严厉的盘问。
• He's grilling out there in the midday sun. 他在外面让中午火辣辣的太阳炙烤着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 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。