美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-03-30

 We begin, though, tonight at the SupremeCourt with signs that the so-called Defense² of Marriage Act is in deepconstitutional trouble. DOMA, you'll recall, is the 1996 federal law definingmarriage as between, being solely³ between man and a woman. Tell that to an83-year-old widow named Edith Windsor who braved the crowds today and foughtthe fight to get her story and the case that bears her name, "United States v. Windsor," before the highest court inthe land. 

Edith Windsor married her wife in Canada. Whenher wife died, Windsorwas forced to pay $360,000 in inheritance tax because her marriage, her legalmarriage, was not recognized by the federal authorities under DOMA. Lowercourts have ruled against DOMA. The Obama administration has refused to defendit. A lawyer for House Republicans speaking for it today drawing some toughquestioning from six of the nine justices. 

Well, is what happened in 1996, and I'mgonna quote from the House report here, is that Congress decided⁴ to reflect andhonor a collective moral judgment⁵ and to express moral disapproval⁶ ofhomosexuality? Is that what happened in 1996? 

What gives the federal government the rightto be concerned at all at what the definition of marriage is? 

When it has 1100 laws, which in our societymeans that the federal government is intertwined with the citizens' daily life,you are at real risk of running in conflict with what has always been thoughtto be the essence of the state police power, which is to regulate marriage,divorce, custody⁷. 

As Justice Kennedy said, 1100 statutes⁸, andit affects every area of life. And so you would be really diminishing what the state has said is marriage. You are saying, no, state said two kinds ofmarriages. The full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. 

Well, afterwards, Edith Windsor said itwent beautifully and that her late spouse⁹, Thea Spire¹⁰, would be pleased. 

And I know that the spirit of my latespouse, Thea Spire, OK, is right here who watching and listening, and would be very proud and happy of where we've come to. 

Well, today's case came just a day after oral arguments on California's Proposition 8, a same-sex marriage ban. Now justices, both liberal and conservative, seemed reluctant yesterday to use it as the basis for sweeping¹¹ national change. This case, DOMA, on the other hand, could be just the opposite. 

Senior legal analyst¹² Jeffrey Too bin¹³ was inside the court again today. He joins us tonight from just outside the court. 

So I know everything comes with the cave at that the Supreme¹ Court could surprise us and it's hard to predict. But you say you think that DOMA is in trouble, that a majority of justices seem to be inclined to throw it out. What makes you say that? 

Because of what Anthony Kennedy said.That's really what it comes down to. Because the four Democratic members of theDemocratic nominees¹⁴ to the Supreme Court were all very clearly hostile to the Defense of Marriage Act. And so where were they going to get the fifth vote? 

Well, Anthony Kennedy is the only really likely possibility, but repeatedly during the oral argument today, he expressedwhat appeared to be his view that the Defense of Marriage Act violated states rights. He did not talk about that it violated the rights of gay people. Hesaid that it, it violates the state's ability to regulate and create the lawsof marriage. And he said it over and over again. And that is a winning argumentfor the Defense of Marriage Act. Critics of Edith Windsor and company. 

These are all taking place with public opinion with public sentiment shifting, as you know, in favor of accepting same sex marriage, not everywhere but the national polls. However, there remains¹⁵ some very high profile and big money bashes of silence on the subject in professional sports.  A member of opening gay players in pro-baseball, basketball and football now stands at precisely¹⁶ zero. Now one active player.

 

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 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

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 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

6 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

7 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

8 statutes   

成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程

参考例句：

• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Each agency is also restricted by the particular statutes governing its activities. 各个机构的行为也受具体法令限制。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

10 spire   

n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点

参考例句：

• The church spire was struck by lightning.教堂的尖顶遭到了雷击。
• They could just make out the spire of the church in the distance.他们只能辨认出远处教堂的尖塔。

11 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

12 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

13 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

14 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。