美国有线新闻 CNN 特朗普提名保守派法官戈萨奇出任美最高法院大法官

 

The U.S. Supreme¹ Court has had eight justices serving on it since Associate Justice Antonin Scalia died suddenly last February. Four of these justices were appointed by Republican presidents. Four were appointed by Democratic presidents. So, on divisive cases, you can see how a 4-4 split could hamper³ the court's decision making process.

Last March, then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat², nominated a U.S. Appeals Court judge named Merrick Garland to replace Justice Scalia. But Republicans who controlled the Senate argued that the next U.S. president should appoint Scalia's replacement⁴. And they did not give Judge Garland a hearing.

With the new U.S. leader now in place, a new nominee⁵ has been named. Tuesday night, President Donald Trump⁶ announced that Neil Gorsuch, a U.S. Appeals Court judge, was his pick to fill Scalia's seat on the high court. The 49-year-old Judge Gorsuch is considered to be a conservative jurist, like Scalia. The nominee studied at Columbia, Harvard and Oxford⁷ Universities and President Trump says his qualifications are beyond dispute.

But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi described Gorsuch as a hostile appointment, who's outside the American mainstream⁸.

Experts say Gorsuch is still likely to join the Supreme Court bench. His Senate confirmation⁹ hearings are set to begin in six weeks.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST¹⁰: Federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, serve for life. That's why presidents regard these judicial¹¹ appointments as such an important way to extend their own legacies¹².

SUBTITLE¹³: Selecting Supreme Court justices.

Steps to becoming a Supreme Court justice:

Secure a presidential nomination¹⁴. Sit before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Receive confirmation by a Senate vote.

TOOBIN: The Constitution does not set out a resume that a Supreme Court justice has to have. There's no requirement in the Constitution that a Supreme Court justice even be a lawyer. But traditionally, presidents have nominated impeccably qualified¹⁵ sitting judges.

Both presidents and senators like to say that the confirmation process is all about qualifications. But it's really also about politics. Virtually, every important issue in American politics and even American life winds up in front of the Supreme Court, and they have the last word. Both the president and the senators trying to figure out how the nominee's stance on the hot-button issues that the Supreme Court deals with and that's why the senators will vote yes or not.

The Supreme Court is designed to operate with nine justices. What makes Justice Scalia's death so unusual in Supreme Court history is that most justices announce that they plan to retire and then a president nominates their successor. So, there is no vacancy¹⁶ at any point in the Supreme Court. With eight justices, there are possibilities for tie votes, which can create a significant amount of confusion in the law.

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 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 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

4 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

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 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 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

8 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

9 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。

10 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。

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 legacies   

n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 )；遗留之物；遗留问题；后遗症

参考例句：

• Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind. 书是伟大的天才留给人类的精神财富。 来自辞典例句
• General legacies are subject to the same principles as demonstrative legacies. 一般的遗赠要与指定数目的遗赠遵循同样的原则。 来自辞典例句

13 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。

14 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。

15 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

16 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。