Death of Supreme Court Justice Becomes Campaign Issue

The sudden death of United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday quickly became part of the presidential campaign.
美国最高法院大法官安东宁·斯卡利亚（Antonin Scalia）上周六的突然去世迅速成为了总统竞选的一部分。

Republicans campaigning for the party's presidential nomination said President Barack Obama -- a Democrat -- should not try to replace Scalia before he leaves office in January. They said he is too close to the end of his presidency.
竞选党内总统候选人提名的共和党人表示，作为民主党的奥巴马总统不应该试图在一月份离任前更换斯卡利亚。他们表示，奥巴马太接近于总统任期结束。

Republican front-runner Donald Trump even called on Republican Senate leaders to block the nomination. He said, "It's called delay, delay, delay."
共和党领跑者唐纳德·特朗普甚至呼吁参议院共和党领袖阻止提名。他说，“这就是所谓的推迟，推迟，再推迟。”

But Democrats said it is the duty of the president to name new justices no matter how soon his or her presidency is to end.
但是民主党人表示，任命新法官是总统的职责，不管他的总统任期有多快要结束。

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton told supporters "the president has a responsibility to nominate a new justice and the Senate has a responsibility to vote."
民主党总统候选人希拉里·克林顿对支持者表示，“总统有责任提名新法官，而参议院有责任去投票。”

Justices serve on the Supreme Court until they leave voluntarily or die. Some of them serve for many years after the president who named them leaves office.
大法官在自愿离职或死亡前一直会在最高法院任职。其中一些人在任命他们的总统卸任后还会任职很多年。

Obama said Saturday that he would seek Senate approval for a new justice before he leaves office. "I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time," he said.
奥巴马周六表示，他会在离任前寻求参议院批准新的大法官。他说，“我计划履行宪法赋予我的职责，在适当的时候提名一位继任者。”

The president also called on the Senate "to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote. These are responsibilities that I take seriously, as should everyone. They're bigger than any one party -- they're about a democracy."
奥巴马总统还呼吁参议院“给这位继任者一次公平的听证会以及一次适时的投票。我会认真履行这些职责，每个人都应该这样。这比任何一党都要重要，这是民主。”

Republican Mitch McConnell is the Senate Majority Leader. He said the president should not nominate a new justice. The U.S. Constitution gives the Senate the power to approve a presidential nominee for the Supreme Court.
共和党人米切·麦康奈尔（Mitch McConnell）是参议院多数党领袖。他说，奥巴马总统不应该提名新法官。美国宪法赋予了参议院批准总统提名的最高法院人选的权力。

Some political experts have said if the president were a Republican with little time left in office, Democrats would be calling for him or her not to name a new justice. And they would be calling on the Senate not to vote on the nominee. In other words, the experts believe that a politician's positions change depending on whether they believe it is good for their political party.
一些政治专家表示，如果总统是共和党，在任时间不长了，民主党也会呼吁他（她）不要任命新的大法官，他们也会呼吁参议院不对提名人进行投票。换句话说，有关专家认为，政治家的立场变化取决于他们是否认为这对他们的政党有利。

If the Senate does not confirm a new justice before Obama leaves office, the seat will be empty for almost a year. It is unusual for a seat on the court to be empty for so long. In the past 100 years, ten justices have died while they were on the court. They were replaced within about three months on average.
如果参议院在奥巴马离任前没有确认新的大法官，该位置将空缺将近一年。最高法院的大法官席位空缺这么长时间非比寻常。在过去100年里有10位大法官死在最高法院任上。他们平均在3个月内就被取代。

Republicans say a Supreme Court justice should not be named in a presidential election year. But 14 justices have been approved in the same year as a presidential election, including in 1988.
共和党人称不应该在总统选举年任命最高法院的大法官。但是有14位大法官在总统选举的同年被批准任命，包括1988年。

Many important cases on the court are decided by a vote of 5 to 4. Scalia was often on the winning side of cases that conservatives supported. But now, without his vote, conservatives cannot win many of their cases because there are four liberals on the court.
最高法院的许多重要案件由5票对4票决定。斯卡利亚往往在保守派支持的案件获胜方。但是现在，缺少了他的投票，保守派不能赢得他们大部分案件，因为最高法院有4名自由派。

A Supreme Court that has eight members can still decide some cases, if more than four justices agree. Without a fifth vote, many important cases cannot be decided.
只有8名大法官的最高法院仍然能裁定一些案件，如果超过4名大法官赞同的话。没有第五票，很多重要案件无法裁决。

This year the court was to consider many difficult issues -- including abortion, immigration and religious freedom.
今年最高法院要考虑很多棘手问题，包括堕胎、移民和宗教自由。