Judge Jackson faced nearly 24 hours of questions over the last 2 days

Judge Jackson faced nearly 24 hours of questions over the last 2 days

　　Transcript¹

　　NPR's Rachel Martin talks to former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, who was tasked by the White House to prepare Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the grueling Supreme³ Court confirmation⁴ process.

　　RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

　　The White House asked former U.S. Senator Doug Jones, a Democrat² from Alabama, to help Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson prepare for the confirmation process, and he is with us this morning. Senator, thanks for being here.

　　DOUG JONES: Thank you, Rachel. It's good to be with you.

　　MARTIN: There is, as you know, the universal preparation that any Supreme Court nominee⁵ needs to undergo what can be a really grueling process. What specific challenges, though, did you need to prepare Judge Jackson for?

　　JONES: Well, I think that the main thing that we needed to do was to just go back and just, like, replay her entire life for her. This is from start to finish. We now see that these hearings go back to college days, to high school days. They touch on everyone's personal life, their professional life. She's 51 years old, and you got to figure that she's forgot a little bit. So, you know, we - you know, the White House really did an amazing job of getting her record together - going back to the Sentencing Commission, going back to her time as a public defender⁶, making sure that she was - you know, kind of got everything back into the forefront so that she could be ready for whatever was thrown at her.

　　MARTIN: So was she ready then? Was she prepared, then, to tackle questions about her rulings in this handful of child pornography cases?

　　JONES: You know, she was absolutely - I think you saw that in the way that she handled herself with grace. I think she - her brilliance⁷ came through. You're not always prepared to handle misleading questions, gotcha-type questions that are - seem to be designed more to throw red meat to a political base as opposed to just delve⁸ into your background and your experience.

　　MARTIN: Which is how you saw these questions.

　　JONES: Which is how I saw many of the questions that were there. Those were a lot of political speeches. They were there for soundbites. So many of those questions that you saw later came out in tweets. You know, but for the questions of substance - and there were a lot of them. I don't want anybody to think that the majority of the Republicans did that. They were respectful. There were very good questions. There were probing questions, and that's what you want in a hearing for a Supreme Court nominee.

　　MARTIN: Just probing those other lines of question a bit, I mean, at some points, we saw Republican senators try to provoke her with questions about, I mean, culture war questions, really - critical race theory or trying to litigate how previous confirmation hearings went down. How do you think she handled those?

　　JONES: I think she handled them outstanding. I mean, she was prepared as best you can for questions like that. We knew that there were people on that committee that are looking to run for higher office and that this was a chance for them to shine in front of their base. So I think she handled those questions, you know, that - a nominee can't always answer questions, especially if those questions are designed to try to get an answer about either a pending⁹ case or one that is likely to come before the Supreme Court. So she was able to, I think, talk about her philosophy, her - how she approaches judging, how she approaches constitutional questions, legislative¹⁰ history questions - and one of judicial¹¹ restraint and adherence¹² to precedent¹³ as best they can. So I think she did a very, very good job.

　　MARTIN: As you know - you were there - there were a lot of emotions at play yesterday in the hearing. Republican senators were repeatedly talking over Judge Jackson, and that provoked Democratic senators to raise their voices at their Republican colleagues. And there was also a different kind of emotional tenor¹⁴ set when Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey¹⁵, spoke¹⁶ and reminded everyone of the historic nature of Judge Jackson's nomination¹⁷, as the first Black woman to be nominated. How did that change the room?

　　JONES: Well, Rachel, I think it not only changed the room, but I think it all just energized¹⁸ America. What they have seen - America has seen for the last week is a brilliant jurist who is both compassionate¹⁹ in her approach to people and judging. She has got incredible credentials²⁰. But Cory Booker reminded everyone that she will be the first Black woman to sit on the United States Supreme Court and how much that means to so many people. Millions of people across this country - millions have been tuning²¹ in and watching, and now they're seeing - Cory brought it back. We got into the gutter²², to some extent, and emotions ran high. Cory brought it back home and really showed America how significant this nomination is to so, so many millions and millions of people out there and all those young men and women across the country who are able to see this nomination and say, I can do this, too. This is America, and this is what we're all about.

　　MARTIN: Former Alabama Senator Doug Jones, thanks for your time this morning. We appreciate it.

　　JONES: Thank you, Rachel.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

7 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

8 delve   

v.深入探究，钻研

参考例句：

• We should not delve too deeply into this painful matter.我们不应该过分深究这件痛苦的事。
• We need to delve more deeply into these questions.这些是我们想进一步了解的。

9 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

10 legislative   

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。

11 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。

12 adherence   

n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着

参考例句：

• He was well known for his adherence to the rules.他因遵循这些规定而出名。
• The teacher demanded adherence to the rules.老师要求学生们遵守纪律。

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 tenor   

n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意

参考例句：

• The tenor of his speech was that war would come.他讲话的大意是战争将要发生。
• The four parts in singing are soprano,alto,tenor and bass.唱歌的四个声部是女高音、女低音、男高音和男低音。

15 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

16 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。

17 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。

18 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

19 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

20 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

21 tuning   

n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

22 gutter   

n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟

参考例句：

• There's a cigarette packet thrown into the gutter.阴沟里有个香烟盒。
• He picked her out of the gutter and made her a great lady.他使她脱离贫苦生活，并成为贵妇。