pbs高端访谈:最高法院召开听证会反对《选举权法》的关键条款

 　　JEFFREY BROWN:The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme¹ Court pondered a central piece of civil rights legislation today, at issue, whether it's still needed 48 years after it first became law.

　　REP. JOHN LEWIS, D-Ga.: We are not there yet.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Georgia Congressman² and civil rights leader John Lewis was one of many who rallied outside the court this morning for the Voting Rights Act. They were there on a day the justices heard a challenge to a key section of the law. It requires states with a history of discrimination, mainly in the Deep South, to get federal approval, or pre- clearance³, before changing voting procedures or districts.

　　Lewis argued that the provision known as Section 5 must be preserved.

　　JOHN LEWIS:There are still forces in this country that want to take us back to another period, but we're not going back. We have come too far. We have made too much progress to go back.

　　The literacy test may be gone, but people are using other means, other tactics and techniques. So we still need Section 5, and that's why we are here today standing⁴ up for the voting rights of all Americans.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:In 1965, Lewis helped lead 600 people across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where police beat them with nightsticks and state troopers fired tear gas. The event became known as Bloody⁵ Sunday and proved a tipping point.

　　President Lyndon Johnson and Congress responded with the Voting Rights Act. Lawmakers have renewed the law ever since, most recently in 2006, with overwhelming support. But Shelby County, Ala. says the law has outlived its time. Frank Ellis is the county attorney.

　　FRANK ELLIS, Shelby County Attorney: And we ask for some recognition that we and these other covered jurisdictions⁶ have made great strides over the last 48 years.

　　I was 24 years old. I have been the county attorney since 1964. I was 24 years old when we came under Section 5. I'm 73 last weekend, and we're still under the same formula, none of which has applied⁷ to us in many, many, many, many years.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:President Obama has recently voiced support for upholding the provision of the Voting Rights Act. He said that if part of the law is struck down, it will be harder to prevent acts of voting discrimination.

　　The case provoked some tough questioning at the court today.

　　And, of course, Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal was there and she is back with us tonight.

　　So, Marcia, tell us first a little bit about the challenge from Shelby County. Why this particular county? What's their argument?

　　MARCIA COYLE,National Law Journal: OK.

　　Well, this case actually was teed up by an organization here in Washington, D.C., known as the Project for Fair Representation. The organization's goal is to eliminate racial and ethnic⁸ preferences. The head of the organization looks for clients to bring lawsuits⁹ targeting racial or ethnic preferences.

　　It found Shelby County. The organization also finds a lawyer. It found Bert Rein¹⁰, a well-known, well-respected lawyer here in Washington, D.C. And it funds the litigation. Shelby County agreed to do it, challenged Section 5. They went through the lower courts in May. A three-judge panel of the federal appellate court here in Washington upheld the law 2-1.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Essentially saying that we just don't—we don't need it anymore, and we want to be—we don't need this federal inquisition.

　　MARCIA COYLE:You mean Shelby County?

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Shelby County, yes, yes.

　　MARCIA COYLE:Yes.

　　Today in the court, Mr. Rein's main argument is that the formula used to determine which jurisdictions in the country should be subject to Section 5's requirement that any voting change be pre-cleared by the Department of Justice or a federal district court here in Washington is outdated¹¹, that it did serve its purpose when it was designed first in 1964 to target that kind of discrimination prevalent at the time.

　　But when Congress took up the act in 2006, it didn't reexamine the formula. It didn't do a state-by-state analysis, as it should have, he believes, to determine whether certain states should newly be covered or old covered states be taken out.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Well, and this sounds like very heated and dramatic questioning.

　　MARCIA COYLE:It was very intense.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Intense is your word.

　　MARCIA COYLE:Yes.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:And it sounds as though that argument found a lot of favor from the conservative justices.

　　Tell us about that, what you heard from them.

　　MARCIA COYLE:All right.

　　Well, they really focused for their questions on the lawyer for the United States, Solicitor¹² General Donald Verrilli. And, there, Justice Scalia made a point. He said that when Congress first enacted¹³ the Voting Rights Act in the Senate, there were double-digit votes in opposition¹⁴ to it. And with each reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, the number of opposing votes decreased until, in 2006, there were no opposing votes, and the House had a similar record.

　　And he said this wasn't attributable, he didn't think, to the need for the Voting Rights Act, but to what he called the phenomenon of racial entitlement, that once a society gives a racial entitlement, he said, it can never get out of it.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:And, therefore, that the courts needed to act, right, step in?

　　MARCIA COYLE:Step in, that's right.

　　He said it wouldn't end unless a court found that the entitlement no longer comported¹⁵ with the Constitution. Chief Justice Roberts pointed¹⁶ out to Mr. Verrilli that the state that had the worst disparity in registration¹⁷ and voting between African-Americans and whites was Massachusetts, and one of the best with that record is Mississippi.

　　He asked at one point, are the citizens in the South more racist¹⁸ than the citizens in the North? Mr. Verrilli's main argument is, well, Congress built a record. It built a record of 15,000 pages to show that there was current discrimination and it had a right to look at past discrimination. Great deference¹⁹ is owed to Congress in this area.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Well, and on the other side, the more liberal justices—I saw Justice Breyer, he referred to this as an old disease, something that's gotten better, but is still there and we still should keep the...

　　MARCIA COYLE:Right. Yes, he asked Mr. Rein, why wouldn't we keep a remedy that was working in place, as we would with an old disease we were trying to get rid of?

　　And, again, Mr. Rein responded that the remedy worked for the disease that the act was targeted at in 1965. A new remedy is needed.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:In a case like this, is one of the justices considered the key swing? It's often Justice Kennedy who plays the role.

　　MARCIA COYLE:In race cases, it really is, but I would have to say that today he sounded very skeptical²⁰ of the government's arguments.

　　You really can't predict how this sort of thing is going to turn out. In 2009, everybody thought Section 5 in another case would be struck down, but the court didn't.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:And is there, as then, a kind of narrow way out of this, or do you get the sense that they have sort of signaled that they really want to resolve the big question here?

　　MARCIA COYLE:Well, since so much of the focus was on this coverage²¹ formula, how Congress determines who has to be covered, it's possible the court could find that the formula is outdated, strike that down, and leave Section 5, the pre-clearance obligation in place.

　　But many believe that, without the coverage formula, Section 5 won't work.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:All right, Marcia, thanks, as always.

　　MARCIA COYLE: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 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

3 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

6 jurisdictions   

司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 )； 裁判权； 管辖区域； 管辖范围

参考例句：

• Butler entreated him to remember the act abolishing the heritable jurisdictions. 巴特勒提醒他注意废除世袭审判权的国会法令。
• James I personally adjudicated between the two jurisdictions. 詹姆士一世亲自裁定双方纠纷。

7 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 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

10 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

11 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

12 solicitor   

n.初级律师，事务律师

参考例句：

• The solicitor's advice gave me food for thought.律师的指点值得我深思。
• The solicitor moved for an adjournment of the case.律师请求将这个案件的诉讼延期。

13 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

14 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

15 comported   

v.表现( comport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He comported himself as if he was already the Presidcnt. 他的举动好象他已经当上了总统似的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He comported himself as if he had already been elected. 他表现出好像他已经当选了似的。 来自辞典例句

16 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

17 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

18 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

19 deference   

n.尊重，顺从；敬意

参考例句：

• Do you treat your parents and teachers with deference?你对父母师长尊敬吗？
• The major defect of their work was deference to authority.他们的主要缺陷是趋从权威。

20 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

21 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。