2022年11月01日 VOA慢速英语：美国高等法院审查大学录取中的种族考虑

 

The United States Supreme Court again is hearing arguments about race-based considerations in university admissions policies.
美国最高法院再次听取关于大学招生政策中基于种族的考虑的争论。
 
The cases concern such policies at the University of North Carolina (UNC), a public school, and Harvard, the nation's oldest private university.
这些案例涉及公立学校北卡罗来纳大学 (UNC) 和美国历史最悠久的私立大学哈佛的此类政策。
 
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.
在下级法院作出有利于北卡罗来纳大学和哈佛的裁决后，美国最高法院同意听取法律诉讼。下级法院裁定，两所学校都遵循了最高法院过去的裁决，称为先例。它拒绝了对白人和亚裔学生的歧视指控。
 
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学法学院可以在招生过程中考虑种族问题，以创造“多元化的教育环境”。2016 年，法院裁定，在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的录取案件中，宪法并未禁止考虑种族问题。
 
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.
公平录取学生组织 (SFFA) 对 UNC 和哈佛提起了法律诉讼。该组织的创始人爱德华·布鲁姆是一位保守派活动家。他对德克萨斯大学提起了类似的法律诉讼，还组织了反对《投票权法》。
 
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 辩称，宪法禁止在大学招生中使用种族，并呼吁推翻最高法院先前不同意的决定。它说，学院和大学可以使用其他种族中立的方式来建立多元化的学生群体。
 
 
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，该小组提供了考虑学生社会经济地位的可能性。它还表示，学校应该停止偏袒父母是前学生的申请者。
 
During the hearings, the justices appeared to take different sides in the dispute.
在听证会上，法官们似乎在争议中采取了不同的立场。
 
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.
有反对种族考虑的记录的克拉伦斯托马斯大法官说：“我已经多次听到'多样性'这个词，但我不知道它是什么意思。” 塞缪尔·阿利托法官将种族考虑比作给少数族裔一个更接近终点线的起点。
 
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，也是该法院的第一位黑人女性成员。她说，北卡罗来纳大学的招生计划“着眼于具有所有这些特征的完整的人”。埃琳娜·卡根大法官称大学是“我们社会领导力的管道”，并建议如果不考虑种族因素，少数族裔学生可以进入这些大学就读的人数减少。
 
Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar represents the Biden administration. She said the schools' admission policies support national security interest.
副检察长 Elizabeth B. Prelogar 代表拜登政府。她说，学校的招生政策支持国家安全利益。
 
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 说，多元化的军官群体对国家安全至关重要。她说，这需要在录取时考虑基于种族的因素，“包括在国家的服务学院”。
 
A decision in today's hearing is not expected before late spring.
预计在春末之前不会在今天的听证会上做出决定。