肯尼迪大法官退休：影響最高法院30年的搖擺票

WASHINGTON — Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has served for more than 30 years under two chief justices: William H. Rehnquist and John G. Roberts Jr. Courts are by tradition named for the chief justice. Since 2005, it has been the Roberts court.

華盛頓——安東尼·M·肯尼迪(Anthony M. Kennedy)任大法官三十余載，歷經(jīng)威廉·H·倫奎斯特(William H. Rehnquist)法院和小約翰·G·羅伯茨(John G. Roberts Jr.)法院。按照傳統(tǒng)，最高法院以時(shí)任首席大法官的名字命名，自2005年起為羅伯茨法院。

But if influence were the deciding factor, it would be more accurate to speak of the period since 1988 as the Kennedy court.

但如果影響力是決定性因素，1988年以來(lái)，將最高法院稱為肯尼迪法院更為準(zhǔn)確。

Justice Kennedy has occupied a place at the court’s ideological center for his entire tenure, though he shared the middle ground with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor for most of his first two decades. On her retirement in 2006, his vote became the undisputed crucial one in most of the court’s closely divided cases.

在整個(gè)任期內(nèi)，肯尼迪大法官身居最高法院的意識(shí)形態(tài)中心點(diǎn)，盡管他在任期前20年的大部分時(shí)間里同桑德拉·戴·奧康納(Sandra Day O’Connor)一起站在中間派立場(chǎng)。待到2006年奧康納退休，他的這一票就無(wú)可爭(zhēng)議地成了最高法院大多數(shù)勢(shì)均力敵的案件中的關(guān)鍵。

There have been about 51 decisions in which Justice Kennedy joined a liberal majority in a closely divided case, while Chief Justice Roberts dissented. All of those precedents could be in jeopardy, said Lee Epstein, a law professor and political scientist at Washington University in St. Louis.

在大約51項(xiàng)雙方勢(shì)均力敵的判決中，肯尼迪大法官加入了占多數(shù)的自由派，而羅伯茨首席大法官則站在反對(duì)的一方。圣路易斯華盛頓大學(xué)(Washington University)的法學(xué)教授、政治學(xué)者李·愛(ài)潑斯坦(Lee Epstein)說(shuō)，所有這些判例都有可能陷入險(xiǎn)境。

To be sure, Justice Kennedy often voted with the court’s conservatives. He wrote the majority opinion in Citizens United, which allowed unlimited campaign spending by corporations and unions, and he joined the majority in Bush v. Gore, which handed the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush. Justice Kennedy also voted with the court’s conservatives in cases on the Second Amendment and voting rights.

當(dāng)然，肯尼迪大法官也經(jīng)常站在保守派一方。他起草了聯(lián)合公民(Citizens United)一案的多數(shù)意見(jiàn)書(shū)，該判決允許公司和工會(huì)無(wú)限制地向競(jìng)選活動(dòng)投入資金。在布什訴戈?duì)柊?Bush v. Gore)中，他站在多數(shù)派一方，將2000年總統(tǒng)選舉贏家判給了喬治·W·布什(George W. Bush)。在有關(guān)第二修正案和投票權(quán)的案件中，肯尼迪大法官也投票支持最高法的保守派。

Not infrequently, though, he joined the court’s liberal wing in important cases on contested social issues, including liberal decisions on gay rights, abortion, affirmative action and the death penalty. A court containing two Trump appointees could chip away at those rulings.

然而，在關(guān)于有爭(zhēng)議的社會(huì)問(wèn)題的重要案件中，他經(jīng)常支持最高法的自由派，包括關(guān)于同性戀權(quán)利、墮胎、平權(quán)行動(dòng)和死刑的自由派裁決。如果最高法中有兩名由特朗普任命的大法官，這些裁決可能會(huì)被逐一推翻。

Mr. Trump has vowed, for instance, to appoint justices committed to overruling Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. That would not happen overnight if another Trump appointee joined the court, but aggressive restrictions on access to abortion would very likely be sustained.

比如，1973年的羅訴韋德案(Roe v. Wade)的裁決確立了墮胎的憲法權(quán)利，然而特朗普發(fā)誓要任命否決該裁決的大法官。雖然這種事不會(huì)在一夜之間發(fā)生，但是如果另一個(gè)被特朗普任命的法官加入最高法院，對(duì)墮胎的嚴(yán)格限制很可能會(huì)持續(xù)下去。

The vote count in the court’s most recent abortion case is telling. In 2016, when the court was short-handed after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Kennedy joined the court’s four-member liberal wing to strike down a restrictive Texas abortion law. That ruling would almost certainly have come out differently from a court without Justice Kennedy and with two Trump appointees.

最高法院最近一次墮胎案中的投票數(shù)字很能說(shuō)明問(wèn)題。2016年，最高法院在安東寧·斯卡利亞大法官(Antonin Scalia)去世后人數(shù)不足，肯尼迪大法官加入了法院的四人自由派，推翻了德克薩斯州一項(xiàng)嚴(yán)格限制墮胎的法律。如果把肯尼迪大法官換成兩名特朗普任命的大法官，那么這項(xiàng)裁決幾乎肯定會(huì)有所不同。

The right to same-sex marriage seems more secure, and Mr. Trump has said he considers the issue settled. But a court including a second Trump appointee would be quite unlikely to expand gay rights and would instead be receptive to arguments from religious groups that object to same-sex marriage.

同性婚姻權(quán)利似乎安全一點(diǎn)，特朗普說(shuō)過(guò)他認(rèn)為這個(gè)問(wèn)題已經(jīng)解決。但包括兩個(gè)特朗普任命大法官的最高法院，不太可能擴(kuò)大同性戀權(quán)利，而是會(huì)樂(lè)于接受反對(duì)同性婚姻的宗教團(tuán)體的論點(diǎn)。

According to a court spokeswoman, Justice Kennedy told his colleagues on Wednesday of his decision to step down, effective July 31.

據(jù)最高法院一位發(fā)言人稱，肯尼迪大法官于周三告知同事自己決定退休，于7月31日生效。

“It has been the greatest honor and privilege to serve our nation in the federal judiciary for 43 years, 30 of those years on the Supreme Court,” Justice Kennedy said in a statement.

肯尼迪大法官在一份聲明中表示：“在聯(lián)邦司法系統(tǒng)為國(guó)家服務(wù)43年，其中30年在最高法院任職，這是我的最高榮譽(yù)與榮幸。”

In a letter to Mr. Trump, Justice Kennedy, 81, expressed “profound gratitude for having had the privilege to seek in each case how best to know, interpret and defend the Constitution and the laws that must always conform to its mandates and promises.”

在致特朗普的信中，81歲的肯尼迪大法官稱“能在每宗案件中探求如何以最佳方式了解、闡釋和捍衛(wèi)憲法，以及法律務(wù)必遵從于它的授權(quán)和承諾，令我滿懷感恩。”

That language — earnest, flowery, a little mystical — was characteristic of his judicial writing, which was not to everyone’s taste.

這種熱情、華麗、有點(diǎn)神秘感的語(yǔ)言，是他司法寫(xiě)作的特點(diǎn)，不見(jiàn)得符合所有人的口味。

Justice Kennedy’s opinions were studded with vague and soaring language.

肯尼迪大法官的意見(jiàn)書(shū)中往往充斥著模糊和崇高的語(yǔ)言。

“At the heart of liberty,” he said in a 1992 decision upholding the constitutional right to abortion, “is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe and of the mystery of human life.”

“在自由的核心，”他在1992年維護(hù)墮胎憲法權(quán)利的裁決中說(shuō)道，“是定義自身存在的概念、意義、宇宙與人類生命奧秘的權(quán)利。”

Phrases like that infuriated his critics, notably Justice Scalia. In a 2003 dissent, Justice Scalia mocked “its famed sweet-mystery-of-life passage,” calling it “the passage that ate the rule of law.”

類似的言語(yǔ)激怒了他的批評(píng)者，特別是斯卡利亞大法官。在2003年的一篇不同意見(jiàn)書(shū)中，斯卡利亞嘲笑了“那著名的甜蜜生命奧秘段落”，還稱其為“吃掉法治的段落”。

Justice Kennedy’s final opinions on the court had a valedictory quality. He wrote an inconclusive decision in a clash between a baker and a gay couple, and he joined a pair of decisions ducking the question of whether the Constitution prohibits partisan gerrymandering.

肯尼迪大法官在法庭上發(fā)表的最后幾次意見(jiàn)具有告別演說(shuō)的性質(zhì)。他在烘焙師與同性戀伴侶沖突一案中寫(xiě)下了一篇無(wú)結(jié)論意見(jiàn)書(shū)，并且在幾個(gè)案件中支持回避憲法是否禁止黨派不公正劃分選區(qū)的問(wèn)題。

Justice Kennedy valued civility and dignity, and the Trump years seemed to take a toll. In Tuesday’s decision upholding Mr. Trump’s travel ban, he seemed to chide the president for incivility even as he said the courts could do nothing to force him to behave with the decorum Justice Kennedy prized.

肯尼迪大法官重視文明和尊嚴(yán)，在特朗普的時(shí)代，這一點(diǎn)似乎要付出代價(jià)。在周二決定維持特朗普的旅行禁令的同時(shí)，他似乎指責(zé)了總統(tǒng)的粗魯，盡管他說(shuō)，法庭無(wú)法強(qiáng)迫總統(tǒng)以他所珍視的莊重行事。

“There are numerous instances in which the statements and actions of government officials are not subject to judicial scrutiny or intervention,” he wrote. “That does not mean those officials are free to disregard the Constitution and the rights it proclaims and protects.”

“有很多例子說(shuō)明政府官員的言論和行為不受司法審查或干預(yù)，”他寫(xiě)道。“這并不意味著這些官員可以自由地?zé)o視憲法及其主張和保護(hù)的權(quán)利。”

“The oath that all officials take to adhere to the Constitution is not confined to those spheres in which the judiciary can correct or even comment upon what those officials say or do,” he wrote. “Indeed, the very fact that an official may have broad discretion, discretion free from judicial scrutiny, makes it all the more imperative for him or her to adhere to the Constitution and to its meaning and its promise.”

“所有官員遵守憲法的誓言，并不局限于司法系統(tǒng)可以對(duì)官員的言行進(jìn)行糾正甚或評(píng)價(jià)的范疇，”他寫(xiě)道。“實(shí)際上，恰恰由于官員可能會(huì)擁有廣泛決定權(quán)，而且不受司法審查，他們務(wù)必要遵守憲法及其意義和承諾。”

A new Trump appointee would almost certainly vote with the court’s most conservative members, thrusting Chief Justice Roberts into the court’s ideological center. The chief justice has drifted slightly to the left in recent years, but aside from two votes sustaining President Barack Obama’s health care law, it is hard to point to a major decision in which he disappointed political conservatives.

特朗普的新人選幾乎必然跟隨法院最為保守的成員投票，將首席大法官羅伯茨推向法院的意識(shí)形態(tài)中心點(diǎn)。近年來(lái)，首席大法官略微偏左，但除了支持貝拉克·奧巴馬(Barack Obama)總統(tǒng)的醫(yī)療保健法案的兩票以外，很難指出他有哪個(gè)重大決定曾使政治保守派失望。

“Should Roberts become the median, the court could move well to the right, taking its place as the most conservative court in modern history,” Professor Epstein said.

“如果羅伯茨是中位數(shù)，那么法院可能已經(jīng)徹底偏右了，成為了現(xiàn)代歷史上最為保守的法院，”愛(ài)潑斯坦說(shuō)道。

In the Supreme Court term that just concluded, Chief Justice Roberts already seemed to be moving to the court’s center, voting with the majority in divided cases more often than any other justice. The term yielded an extraordinary run of conservative rulings, including blockbusters upholding Mr. Trump’s travel ban and dealing a sharp blow to public unions.

在剛剛結(jié)束的最高法院庭期內(nèi)，羅伯茨似乎已經(jīng)在向中心移動(dòng)，在有分歧的案件中，他比其他任何一個(gè)法官都更多地加入了多數(shù)派。該庭期出現(xiàn)了一連串驚人的保守派判決，包括轟動(dòng)性地支持特朗普的旅行禁令，以及對(duì)工會(huì)施加重大打擊。

“This term gave us a preview of what the Supreme Court would be like if Chief Justice Roberts were to become the swing vote,” said Leah Litman, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine. “Progressives will lose, and they will lose a lot, except in a few criminal cases.”

“本次任期讓我們提前看見(jiàn)了如果首席大法官羅伯茨成為了搖擺票的話，最高法院會(huì)是什么樣子，”加州大學(xué)歐文分校(University of California, Irvine)法學(xué)教授利亞·利特曼(Leah Litman)說(shuō)。“進(jìn)步派會(huì)輸，除了幾起刑事案外，他們會(huì)輸?shù)艉芏喟缸印?rdquo;

Legal experts struggled to recall a recent example of a chief justice who was also the swing justice.

法律專家想不到近現(xiàn)代還有哪位首席大法官同時(shí)也是搖擺大法官。

Justice Kennedy himself did not like to be called the swing justice. “The cases swing,” he said in 2015 at Harvard Law School. “I don’t.”

肯尼迪大法官本人并不喜歡被人稱為搖擺大法官。“案件在搖擺，”他于2015年在哈佛法學(xué)院說(shuō)。“我不搖擺。”

That was correct. His jurisprudence contained an idiosyncratic mix of commitments, but they were fixed and strong, and they yielded vigorous opinions, very often speaking for the majority.

這話沒(méi)錯(cuò)。他的法學(xué)是多種責(zé)任感的獨(dú)特混合體，但這些責(zé)任感是堅(jiān)定而強(qiáng)硬的，由此得出了有力的、往往為多數(shù)群體發(fā)聲的意見(jiàn)。

“Every day you’re not in the majority you think is a dark day,” he told C-Span in 2009. By that standard, Justice Kennedy had very few dark days.

“不管什么時(shí)候，不在多數(shù)的一方會(huì)讓你覺(jué)得這一天是灰暗的，”他2009年對(duì)C-Span頻道說(shuō)。照此標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，肯尼迪大法官經(jīng)歷過(guò)的灰暗日子可謂少之又少。