奧巴馬提名中間立場法官進入最高法院

President Barack Obama kicked off a fierce election year battle with Republicans by nominating a centrist judge to the Supreme Court and warning his political foes against acting on threats to block him.

美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)在選舉年啓動了一場對共和黨人的戰爭。他提名一位持中間立場的法官進入美國最高法院，並警告他的政治對手，不要威脅阻止他。

Mr Obama on Wednesday named Merrick Garland, 63, to replace Antonin Scalia, a conservative justice who died last month, deliberately choosing an appeals court judge who has in the past won praise from Republicans.

週三，奧巴馬提名63歲的梅里克•加蘭(Merrick Garland)進入最高法院，取代上月去世的保守派法官安東寧•斯卡利亞(Antonin Scalia)的位置。他故意挑選了一名過去曾贏得共和黨人讚揚的上訴法院法官。

The vacancy left by Scalia has thrust the Supreme Court into the heart of acrimonious election year politics, putting up for grabs the ideological tilt of an institution with a profound influence on American government and society.

斯卡利亞留下的空缺，把最高法院推入了尖銳的大選年政治鬥爭的中心，使這家對美國政府和社會具有深遠影響力的機構的意識形態傾向成爲爭奪對象。

Senate Republicans on Wednesday reiterated their determination to block any nominee in Mr Obama’s final year in office, insisting that voters should be given a say by allowing the next president to fill the vacancy.

共和黨參議員周三重申，他們決心阻止奧巴馬在總統任期最後一年提名的任何人選。他們堅稱，應當給予選民們發言權，讓下一任總統來提名最高法院空缺人選。

Announcing his pick in the White House Rose Garden, Mr Obama urged Republicans to rethink and fulfil what he described as their constitutional duty by considering Mr Garland instead of treating him as a “political piñata”.

在白宮玫瑰園公佈自己的提名人選時，奧巴馬敦促共和黨人三思，履行他所描述的共和黨人的憲法責任，對加蘭進行考察，而不是把他視爲一個“政治玩偶”。

Mr Garland — who is likely to be given a rough ride by some Republicans — is the chief judge at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit, a regular stepping stone to the top court where Scalia also served.

目前，加蘭是美國哥倫比亞特區聯邦巡迴上訴法院(US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit)的首席法官，這是通往最高法院的跳板。斯卡利亞也曾擔任該職務。

A White House official noted that Mr Garland was confirmed as an appeals court judge with majority support from both parties when he was nominated in 1997 by President Bill Clinton.

一位白宮官員指出，1997年加蘭獲得時任總統比爾•克林頓(Bill Clinton)提名擔任上訴法院法官時，曾得到了兩黨的多數支持。

In 2010 Orrin Hatch, a senior Republican senator, described him as a “consensus nominee” for the Supreme Court when he was considered for a vacancy that year.

2010年，當最高法院出現空缺時，資深共和黨參議員奧林•哈奇(Orrin Hatch)把加林描述爲一名“共識候選人”。

But Mr Hatch, the longest-serving member of the Senate judiciary committee, quickly shot down any hope of Republicans agreeing to hold hearings, let alone a vote, on Mr Garland’s nomination.

但是，在參議院司法委員會(Senate judiciary committee)任職時間最長的委員哈奇，很快就澆滅了共和黨人同意就提名加蘭舉行聽證會（投票就更不必說）的希望。

Scalia’s death ended a conservative majority that held sway on the court for a quarter of a century, leaving it split 4-4 between the remaining conservatives and their liberal counterparts, who face landmark cases on immigration, abortion and healthcare.

斯卡利亞的去世，終結了持續四分之一個世紀的保守派在最高法院佔多數的局面。保守派和自由派法官的比例變成4比4。

Republicans do not want Mr Obama to tilt its balance leftward, but they are taking a gamble that a member of their own party will win November’s presidential election and appoint another conservative.

共和黨人不希望奧巴馬把最高法院的傾向推到左翼，但他們是在押注，共和黨人將贏得11月的總統大選，然後再爲最高法院提名一位保守派人士。

If the Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton won the White House and the Senate flipped into Democratic hands, she could feel empowered to nominate a justice more liberal than Mr Garland.

如果民主黨領跑者希拉里•克林頓(Hillary Clinton)入主白宮，並且參議院落入民主黨手中，她可能感覺有能力提名一位比加蘭更傾向自由派的法官。

Mrs Clinton praised Mr Garland in a statement on Wednesday and urged the Senate to give him “a full and fair hearing followed by a vote”.

週三，希拉里在聲明中稱讚了加蘭，並敦促參議院就他獲提名“進行一次全面、公正的聽證，然後再投票表決”。