2022年11月01日 VOA慢速英語：美國高等法院審查大學錄取中的種族考慮

 

The United States Supreme Court again is hearing arguments about race-based considerations in university admissions policies.
美國最高法院再次聽取關于大學招生政策中基于種族的考慮的爭論。
 
The cases concern such policies at the University of North Carolina (UNC), a public school, and Harvard, the nation's oldest private university.
這些案例涉及公立學校北卡羅來納大學 (UNC) 和美國歷史最悠久的私立大學哈佛的此類政策。
 
The nation's highest court agreed to hear the legal actions after lower courts ruled in favor of both UNC and Harvard. The lower courts ruled that both schools followed past Supreme Court rulings, called precedents. It rejected accusations of discrimination against white and Asian-American students.
在下級法院作出有利于北卡羅來納大學和哈佛的裁決后，美國最高法院同意聽取法律訴訟。下級法院裁定，兩所學校都遵循了最高法院過去的裁決，稱為先例。它拒絕了對白人和亞裔學生的歧視指控。
 
In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that the University of Michigan's law school could consider race in its admissions process to create "a diverse educational environment." In 2016, the court ruled that the constitution does not bar consideration of race in a case about admission at the University of Texas at Austin.
2003 年，最高法院裁定密歇根大學法學院可以在招生過程中考慮種族問題，以創(chuàng)造“多元化的教育環(huán)境”。2016 年，法院裁定，在德克薩斯大學奧斯汀分校的錄取案件中，憲法并未禁止考慮種族問題。
 
The group Students for Fair Admissions, or SFFA, brought the legal actions against UNC and Harvard. The group's founder, Edward Blum, is a conservative activist. He brought similar legal action against the University of Texas and also organized against the Voting Rights Act.
公平錄取學生組織 (SFFA) 對 UNC 和哈佛提起了法律訴訟。該組織的創(chuàng)始人愛德華·布魯姆是一位保守派活動家。他對德克薩斯大學提起了類似的法律訴訟，還組織了反對《投票權法》。
 
The SFFA argued that the Constitution bars the use of race in college admissions and called for overturning earlier Supreme Court decisions that disagreed. Colleges and universities can use other, race-neutral ways to build a diverse student body, it said.
SFFA 辯稱，憲法禁止在大學招生中使用種族，并呼吁推翻最高法院先前不同意的決定。它說，學院和大學可以使用其他種族中立的方式來建立多元化的學生群體。
 
 
The group offered the possibility of considering a student's socioeconomic position, for example. It also said the schools should stop favoring applicants whose parents are former students.
例如，該小組提供了考慮學生社會經濟地位的可能性。它還表示，學校應該停止偏袒父母是前學生的申請者。
 
During the hearings, the justices appeared to take different sides in the dispute.
在聽證會上，法官們似乎在爭議中采取了不同的立場。
 
Justice Clarence Thomas, who has a record of opposition to race consideration, said, "I've heard the word ‘diversity' quite a few times and I don't have a clue what it means." Justice Samuel Alito compared race consideration to giving minorities a starting point closer to the finish line.
有反對種族考慮的記錄的克拉倫斯托馬斯大法官說：“我已經多次聽到'多樣性'這個詞，但我不知道它是什么意思。” 塞繆爾·阿利托法官將種族考慮比作給少數族裔一個更接近終點線的起點。
 
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is the court's newest justice and its first Black female member. She said UNC's admission programs are "looking at the full person with all of those characteristics." And Justice Elena Kagan called universities the "pipelines to leadership in our society" and suggested that without race consideration, fewer minority students could attend these colleges.
大法官 Ketanji Brown Jackson 是法院的最新大法官，也是該法院的第一位黑人女性成員。她說，北卡羅來納大學的招生計劃“著眼于具有所有這些特征的完整的人”。埃琳娜·卡根大法官稱大學是“我們社會領導力的管道”，并建議如果不考慮種族因素，少數族裔學生可以進入這些大學就讀的人數減少。
 
Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar represents the Biden administration. She said the schools' admission policies support national security interest.
副檢察長 Elizabeth B. Prelogar 代表拜登政府。她說，學校的招生政策支持國家安全利益。
 
Prelogar said, a diverse group of military officers is critical to national security. She said that requires race-based considerations in admissions, "including at the nation's service academies."
Prelogar 說，多元化的軍官群體對國家安全至關重要。她說，這需要在錄取時考慮基于種族的因素，“包括在國家的服務學院”。
 
A decision in today's hearing is not expected before late spring.
預計在春末之前不會在今天的聽證會上做出決定。