美国有线新闻 CNN 美国最高法院即将进入新会期

 

AZUZ: With eight justices and one vacancy¹, the U.S. Supreme² Court is about a month into its newest session. It will probably run until the beginning of next summer.

The high court has taken up a pretty wide range of cases. One involves whether the stripes and badges of a cheerleading outfit³ can be protected by copyright. One involves alleged⁴ racial bias⁵ by a juror in a case in Colorado. One involves money that the Apple technology won in a case involving a patent dispute with the Samsung tech company.

There's a lot for justices to consider in these cases alone, but it begs the question, how do they get on a docket in the first place with so many lawsuits⁶ playing out across the country?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST⁷: For the Supreme Court, the big issue is often what cases they hear as much as how they decide those cases.

SUBTITLE⁸: How the Supreme Court selects cases.

TOOBIN: The justices get thousands of petitions every year, asking them to hear cases. But they only agree to decide about 70 of those cases.

The main reason the justices take a case is what's known as a split in the circuits. There are 13 circuit courts of appeals, and sometimes, two of those circuits address the same issue and come out differently. In almost all those cases, the Supreme Court agrees to decide the case.

Now, what kind of cases do they take?

The Supreme Court only deals with federal law. So, they will only decide cases that involve interpreting federal laws or cases that involve the U.S. constitution which is the ultimate law of the land.

Sometimes the justices do what's called strategic voting. They think, you know, I think this lower court decision is wrong. But if I vote to hear this case, my colleagues will make the law even worse. So, I'm going to vote to leave the case alone rather than risking a bad Supreme Court decision that could last for decades.

We often hear about 5-4 Supreme Court decisions. But it's always worth remembering that it only takes four justices to make the most important decision of all, which is to hear the case in the first place.

1 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

2 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。

3 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

5 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

6 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 subtitle   

n.副题（书本中的），说明对白的字幕

参考例句：

• His new book has a subtitle.他的新书有一个副标题。
• Ah!I don't know why they don't subtitle these movies.唉！我不知道这些电影为什么不打字幕。