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It's Trump's Court
最高法院成了特朗普的法院
The unpredictable Anthony Kennedy’s retirement presages a more conservative era on the Supreme Court
安東尼·肯尼迪的退休來得意外 最高法院即將進入更為保守的時代
By Massimo Calabresi
文/馬西莫·卡拉布雷西
For years, some of the most consequential discussions in America were held around a small round table
數年來，美國不少重要討論都是圍繞一張窗前的小圓桌進行的，
in front of a window with a view across first street to the capitol building.
從那扇窗戶向外望去，過了一大街便是國會大廈。
It was there, in the pin-drop silence of his supreme court chambers, that justice Anthony Kennedy convened his clerks each year
大法官安東尼·肯尼迪每年都會召集他的助手到那張桌前，在最高法院的一片靜寂之中分派，分析
to assign and analyze the cases that would come before America’s highest court in the coming months.
最高法院接下來幾個月要審理的案件。
It was also where Kennedy would greet guests for private conversation.
那張圓桌也是肯尼迪私下會客的地方。
Courtly to the point of caricature, he would have his staff lay out white linen napkins and a cut-crystal milk jug, then serve tea.
他會讓員工擺好白色亞麻餐巾和晶瑩剔透的牛奶壺后再上茶，堪稱彬彬有禮到滑稽的地步。
He would also salt his legal analysis with Shakespearean allusions,
他還會在案件分析中融入莎士比亞的典故，
fresh in his mind from after-dinner reading at home with Mary, his wife of 55 years.
現學現用與結婚55年的妻子瑪麗飯后閱讀時看到的。
Alternately self-effacing and grandiloquent, he talked about the books he was reading
他聊起最近在讀的書，以及對法律、國家乃至全世界的擔憂，
and what worried him about the law, the country and the world.
時而謙遜，時而豪言壯語。
And it was there at that table, in the early morning after beating the Washington traffic into the capital,
那張圓桌，也是肯尼迪——一大早就已穿越華盛頓繁忙的交通來到了國會——
that Kennedy often wrestled with the thorniest issues America faced.
經常與美國面臨的最棘手的問題作斗爭的地方。
Should abortion be legal and easily accessible?
墮胎應該合法嗎？落實起來會容易嗎？
How could affirmative action be deployed to right the historic wrong of racism without becoming racist itself?
如何才能利用平權行動糾正種族主義的歷史錯誤，同時保證行動本身不落入種族主義窠臼？
Should gay people have the same rights as straight people?
同性戀應該和異性戀享有同等權利嗎？
If the image of quiet, contemplative debate seems anachronistic in these vituperative times,
如果說，在這個動輒謾罵的時代，安靜、沉思式的辯論已經顯得不合時宜，
the contrast is even more poignant after the Justice’s latest decision.
最高法院做出最新裁決后，二者的反差較之前有過之而無不及。
On June 27, Kennedy announced that he would step down from the court,
6月27日，肯尼迪宣布他將退出最高法院，
taking with him the unique moderating role he has played in America for three decades.
30年來他所扮演的調節角色也將隨他一起遠去。
The last swing voter on the court, he sought—often to the frustration of everyone around him—
作為最高法院最后一位游離選民，他總是設法在你爭我斗的理念之間，有時甚至是意識形態之間尋求折中的辦法，
to find compromise between competing ideals and, at times, ideologies.
為此也總是哪方都吃力不討好，枉用心機。
What remained of that world is about to come crashing down.
那個世界所余留的也即將面臨崩潰。
Some 30 minutes after the 81-year-old Justice met with President Trump in person at the White House,
這位81歲的大法官前往白宮與特朗普總統會面，大約30分鐘后，
his resignation became news, and preparations for battle broke out across Washington.
他的辭職便登上了新聞，整個華盛頓也隨之吹響了戰斗的號角。
Leonard Leo, Trump’s top outside adviser on judicial nominations,
負責向特朗普提供司法提名咨詢的首席外部顧問倫納德·里奧向《時代》周刊透露，
told TIME that the President could announce a nominee in the next two or three.
總統可能會在未來兩三周內宣布新的提名人。
The timing would put Trump on track to potentially seat his second Justice by Oct.1—the start of the next high-court term,
鑒于這一時機，特朗普有望在10月1日之前，也即趕在下一屆最高法院任期開始之前，
and well before midterm elections could alter the Republican majority in the Senate.
趕在中期選舉改變共和黨在參議院的多數黨地位之前定下他的第二位大法官。
“I think that as long as the President sticks to the model that worked last time,
“我認為，總統只有堅持上次頗為成功的模式，
which is to appoint someone like Neil Gorsuch,” Leo says,
換句話說，就是任命尼爾·戈薩奇這樣的人為新任大法官，”里奧說，
“that is the best recipe for ensuring some level of bipartisan support.”
“才是確保在一定程度上得到兩黨支持的最佳選擇。”
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
