相 较伦奎斯特,罗伯茨更具亲和力;但是两人之间最大的区别是罗伯茨是诉讼律师出身,不像伦奎斯特始终是中西部老绅士风格,罗伯茨虽然也来自于中西部,但是长 年的诉讼经历使得罗伯茨更加具有攻击性和律师的狡谲。在主持最高法院第一个十年里,罗伯茨似乎表现出超出他的导师的大局观和平衡感。而且几乎所有的人都同 意,罗伯茨是伦奎斯特的老师,也就是他祖师爷罗伯特·杰克逊大法官以来最高法院的第一写手,他主笔的判决书如高屋建瓴,行云流水,时而大开大阖,时而婉婉 道来,实在令人击节称叹。罗伯茨吹响进攻号角:Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007)在 罗伯茨法庭的第二年里,罗伯茨就毫无悬念地表示他的立场。西雅图的这个案子和上面这些案子略有不同,西雅图的这个案子是关于从小学到高中的入学问题的。西 雅图有几个很好的明星高中,其录取过程有如很多大学一样把种族作为一个考虑因素。结果导致很多住得很近的白人学生被家门口的高中拒之门外,其原因仅仅是学 校太多白人学生。
愤 怒的家长把学校告上法院,官司一直打到最高法院,罗伯茨在判决书的最后一段里写下了掷地有声的一句话:“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”。(停止基于种族的歧视的办法就是停止基于种族的歧视) 我必须承认,无论我怎么尝试,我都无法在译文中反映出罗伯茨原句中横扫千军的气势。我只能自我安慰说“秋水共长天一色”的语境英文大概也是翻译不出来的吧。
罗伯茨的意思很明确:宪法第十四修正案的原意必须被尊重,考虑种族因素就是基于种族的歧视。
可惜的是,肯尼迪法官没有加入罗伯茨多数意见书的最后一段,使得罗伯茨只能判决西雅图学校系统的做法是违宪的,但是这个判决没有更广阔的影响力。肯尼迪的那一票:费舍尔诉得克萨斯大学,Fisher v. University of Texas(2013)2006年初在阿利托(Samuel Alito)大法官被参议院确认之后,奥康纳黯然隐退,温和保守派的奥康纳被铁杆保守派的阿利托取代的最大后果就是:肯尼迪作为仅存的温和保守派和摇摆票,拥有了比当初奥康纳还要大的影响力。
在费舍尔一案的庭审中,保守派大法官们的立场一览无余,一开场斯卡里亚就充当了急先锋,他直接出手挡住了金斯伯格和索托马约尔对费舍尔诉讼资格的挑战。而相对沉默的罗伯茨一出手就是压迫式的提问,让得克萨斯州大学的律师几乎没有喘息的时间。 CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: I understand my job, under our precedents, to determine if your use of race is narrowly tailored to a compelling interest. The compelling interest you identify is attaining a critical mass of minority students at the University of Texas, but you won't tell me what the critical mass is. How am I supposed to do the job that our precedents say I should do? Grutter said there has to be a logical end point to your use of race. What is the logical end point? When will I know that you've reached a critical mass?
但是罗伯茨紧追不舍: At what level will it satisfy the critical mass? 到了什么程度才能让你觉得少数族裔在大学里能有足够代表呢?
这当然是得克萨斯大学的律师不可能,也不敢于回答的,因为这正是巴基和格鲁特尔最深层的矛盾。罗伯茨抓住对方这一弱点不断攻击,让得克萨斯大学的律师狼狈不堪。他甚至连对方喘气的机会都不给,就继续指出现行制度的荒谬之处: CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Counsel, before -- I need to figure out exactly what these numbers mean. Should someone who is one-quarter Hispanic check the Hispanic box or some different box? 首席大法官罗伯茨:如果一个人是1/4西班牙裔血统,他应该在申请表上选择“西班牙裔”么?
这是罗伯茨常用的“逻辑斜坡”陷阱,他先诱使你给出一个回答,然后他把你放上一个你刹不住车的逻辑斜坡上,让你滑入荒谬绝伦的逻辑深渊,有很多老律师都在这上面被罗伯茨修理得很惨。得克萨斯大学的律师看着危险迎面而来,但是罗伯茨不给他考虑的机会: CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: They would check that box. What about one-eighth? 首席大法官罗伯茨:那1/8西班牙裔血统怎么办?
注:泄露讨论内幕是最高法院的大忌,大法官们很少和外人讨论秘密会议室里发生了什么。他们的助理们一般能从老板处得知二手的信息,但是没人敢于冒着被扔出法律界的风险和外人谈论。一般要到几十年后他们老板都已作古,他们才会公开讨论当年的轶事。比什库皮奇在此挖出如此新鲜的材料是相当罕见的,她特地脚注说明索托马约尔并未和她说明此事,而是保守派和自由派双方别的法官告诉她前因后果的。转入防御:舒特诉保卫强制性优待政策联盟 Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (2014)自由派在费雪儿一案中至少是延迟了保守派的进攻,在下一个最高法院的年度,保守派陷入了防御战。如前文所述,在格鲁特尔之后,密西根的选民通过了密西根州的宪法修正案,彻底地禁止了密西根的公立大学在录取中考虑族裔因素。
在最高法院庭审刚开始,斯卡里亚就决定给该联盟的律师一点下马威: MS. DRIVER: Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court: We ask this Court to uphold the Sixth Circuit decision to reaffirm the doctrine that's expressed in Hunter-Seattle, and to bring the 14th Amendment back to its original purpose and meaning, which is to protect minority rights against a white majority, which did not occur in this case. JUSTICE SCALIA: My goodness, I thought we've -- we've held that the 14th Amendment protects all races. I mean, that was the argument in the early years, that it protected only -- only the blacks. But I thought we rejected that. You -- you say now that we have to proceed as though its purpose is not to protect whites, only to protect minorities? 保卫强制性优待政策联盟的律师:首席法官大人,各位法官大人。我们希望本法庭维持联邦第六上诉法院的判决,再次确认亨特-西雅图一案中树立的司法原则,把第十四宪法修正案恢复到其本来的目的和意义,即保卫少数族裔的利益不受白人多数的侵犯。 斯卡里亚大法官:我的上帝。我以为本法庭一直是认为第十四宪法修正案保护所有的族裔。我的意思是说,很早的时候有这种说法:宪法第十四修正案只是保护非洲裔。我认为本法院早就拒绝了这一看法。你现在说我们应当认为宪法第十四修正案不保护白人,只保护少数族裔?
几乎没有太大悬念的是,最高法院以6:2票反转了联邦第六上诉法院的判决,布雷耶一定程度上加入了保守派大法官执笔的多数意见书,确认密西根选民确有权力禁止本州公立大学在录取程序上考虑族裔。索托马约尔终于发表了“恩断义绝和火星四溅”的少数异见书,她的少数异见书如此不同寻常,首席大法官罗伯茨也罕见地单独的写了一个简短的协同意见书,特地回应索托马约尔。 People can disagree in good faith on this issue, but it similarly does more harm than good to question the openness and candor of those on either side of the debate. 人们可以真诚地持有不同意见,但是质疑持不同意见者的胸怀和坦诚则弊大于利。亚裔加入战斗:公平录取诉哈佛 Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard有意思的是,当美国的主流媒体谈到少数族裔的权利的时候,亚裔仿佛不算是少数族裔似的。这种现象有很多原因,比如说很多美国人认为亚裔在美国社会已经算是不错了,亚裔的受教育程度和家庭收入一直高于平均水平;亚裔一般比较低调,往往受了歧视也不愿意大声抗议,在一个言论自由的社会,你不发声别人不会注意到你;在很多美国人眼里,亚裔属于永久的外国人(Perpetual Foreigner),哪怕你在美国落地生根好几代了,还是被人问到你来自于哪个国家。
但是越来越多的亚裔和我一样开始质疑这个体系,我无意推我的孩子去过那座千军万马要过的独木桥,但是我推不推我的孩子是一回事,这个体系是不是歧视我的孩子是完完全全的另外一回事。这就好比阿Q姓不姓赵愿不愿意姓赵是一回事,赵太爷不准他姓赵则是另外一回事。我不会自欺欺人地说:“进常春藤其实也没什么好。”费舍尔重回最高法院:Fisher v. University of Texas(2016)就在这个大背景下,2015年12月9日阿比盖尔·费舍尔再次入禀美国最高法院,这次索托马约尔的枪膛里的子弹已然射出,大法官们再无缓冲妥协余地。12月11日八位大法官(卡根继续回避)进入秘密会议室秘密表决,我们大概要到明年六月才会知道他们的决定。
针对哈佛的诉讼仍然在缓慢的移动中,哈佛被迫向诉讼团队交出海量的申请人信息,哈佛招生办公室的负责人也是有史以来头一遭在宣誓的条件下作证(宣誓作证中撒谎是犯罪)。但哈佛仍然强大无比,每年双方都要烧掉上百万美元的诉讼费。双方的诉讼团队都由星光闪耀的顶级诉讼律师领衔,哈佛这边是克林顿政府的政府首席律师赛斯·瓦克斯曼(Seth P. Waxman)带队,布鲁姆团队则是新锐挑大梁,以威廉·康索沃(William S. Consovoy)为首的前最高法院2008-2009年度三名法官助理团队走上第一线,挑战他们的前辈,双方针尖对麦芒。这将是一场漫长的战斗,我们心怀希望。
HCC 发表评论于
回复 'tobuto' 的评论 :
No. I was hoping that the necessity of this policy becomes more conspicuous, once a cross-comparison is made. However, by now, I don’t think you understood the gist of this conversation.
I explained the need for affirmative action in the education system for the country (USA) as a whole. I have also compared the need for this policy in different countries – countries that have utilized more or less of the same policy for similar reasons. I was hoping you’d understand the purpose -- that the country as a whole should grow together. The opportunities for entry to the best colleges should be afforded to all -- not just you and I.
The emphasis here is not about one person, or one race. It is about the benefit and advancement of the entire country. On that, there are similarities between US and mainland China -- currently, or historically.
tobuto 发表评论于
回复 'HCC' 的评论 :
So you are using China Mainland's education system to justify US's AA?
Everything has a reason to exist but that does not justify it. Slavery existed for a long time, so did women's foot-binding in China mainland.
Your logic does not work.
HCC 发表评论于
回复 'tobuto' 的评论 :
I thought I already answered. Firstly – to say that particular students are accepted only because of their skin color and not the content of their character is, quite frankly, wrong. A student without sufficient substance will never be accepted by the ivy league schools, whatever the race.
And to respond to your other question – I would say, no. Providing more educational opportunities to minorities does not hurt the country’s global competitiveness as a whole. How could it? The policy’s purpose is to elevate the entire country, not just particular races that are over-represented in the ivy league schools. I thought the answer is rather obvious.
And yes – the country has an interest to enhance the educational opportunities to all races. Look at the US. Look at mainland China. This policy has existed for hundreds of years in different forms. For example, the traditional Chinese imperial examination system:
在明仁宗時確定,會試按地域分配名額。在會試的試卷中加上「南」、「北」等字,按「南六十」、「北四十」的規定錄取進士。之後比例偶有調整,但按地域分配名額的制度一直沿用至清朝科舉被廢。名額保障制度保障了文化相對落後的邊遠省份(如甘肅、貴州、雲南等),使每屆科舉會試各地都有一定數量的舉人成為進士,進入政界的中高層,有利於保持國家的統一與政治安定。
(see https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E7%A7%91%E4%B8%BE%E5%88%B6%E5%BA%A6#cite_note-acpsh-32 )
Again – I am sure you can see the similarity with the system today. This policy (or different versions of it) existed for so long for a reason.
tobuto 发表评论于
回复 'HCC' 的评论 :
The reality is particular races are favored (with other races being suffering) just because of their skin color which has nothing to do with the content of their character. Isn't this hurting the country's global competitiveness as whole? Is this of the interest of the country from a larger perspective, in your view?
They are other ways to provide opportunities to certain races.
I am all for having more Asian players in the NBA. If you start a petition to the NBA commissioner on this, let me know and I’ll sign it.
On the other hand, I would not urge adding more Asians to jail, if that is what you mean.
>> -- 這裏你把因果關係弄反了。 我也希望自己的孩子能輕輕鬆鬆玩著玩著就上好大學
>> -- How the country as whole will continue to suffer if particular races choose not to make substantial efforts to increase their own market competitiveness….
I can argue with you on this all day from the perspectives of an individual, but it won’t be of much use. I am asking you to understand this from a public policy perspective.
To make it easier to understand: here is a Chinese equivalent for you to consider. Take below, for example – 少数民族高考加分政策 (see http://edu.sina.com.cn/gaokao/2015-01-01/1053452450.shtml )
See also:
我国是一个多民族国家,由于各地区各民族之间发展的差异,导致基础教育水平参差不齐,为了保证教育水平相对落后的民族地区的少数民族考生也能享受到接受高等教育的权利,国家制定了许多民族照顾政策,其中惠及范围比较广的有民族预科班、民族加分或降分等等,就全国为数众多的少数民族考生而言,高考填报志愿时如果能够对这些民族照顾政策加以充分利用,往往可以起到锦上添花甚至改变最终录取结果的作用。
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4a615c6701007ydk.html
I am sure you see the similarities between U.S. and mainland China on this issue.
Is this fair to the Hans? No. Does the country need this for the benefit of the minority races? Yes. I don’t expect you to find fairness from a personal view. I ask you to understand the reason for this policy, however, from a national perspective.
HCC 发表评论于
>>And, yes, the colleges and universities favor certain races over the Asians" if this is a good thing, then why police do racial profiling is a bad thing?
I would dare to say that considering race in college admission is quite different from presuming guilt based on the color of someone’s skin. Nonetheless – the policy here is about providing more opportunities to certain races. Asians have benefitted from diversity, too. The discussion here is – should we keep the door open to other races, or do we narrow that door to benefit Asians at the cost of the entire country (particularly when Asians are already overrepresented, at 370%?
And, to be clear – I don’t think this is a “good thing.” I just think, from a policy perspective, this is a necessary thing, for the time being.
"I don't see a crusade for justice here. What I see is the same battle that was fought for by countless Asian tiger moms and dads -- name brand education, whatever the price. "
-- 这里你把因果关系弄反了。 我也希望自己的孩子能轻轻松松玩着玩着就上好大学,现实是,在这些案子里,为了获取同一所学校的录取,华人孩子必须要比其他族裔的孩子优秀-- 即便更加优秀,甚至还得不到录取 -- 仅仅是因为族裔。在这样的现状下,为了为自己的孩子争取受教育的权利,我们还能怎么办?谁愿意自己的孩子小小年纪就戴着眼镜成天苦读?谁不希望自己的孩子有一个轻松愉快的童年? What's the price we are paying for it, and why?
"But, if they do not do so, this country as a whole will continue to suffer. Particular races will fall further and further behind in the academic arena and face even further deprivations in educational opportunities."
-- How the country as whole will continue to suffer if particular races choose not to make substantial efforts to increase their own market competitiveness? On the contrary, the reality is particular races are favored (with other races being suffering) just because of their skin color which has nothing to do with the content of their character. Isn't this hurting the country's global competitiveness as whole? Is this of the interest of the country from a larger perspective, in your view?
wujiandao 发表评论于
回复 'HCC' 的评论 :
"And, yes, the colleges and universities favor certain races over the Asians" if this is a good thing, then why police do racial profiling is a bad thing?
There are plenty of Asian men who made it to the HYSP as well. Jeremy Lin is one such example. (It is dangerous to use over-generalization in one's analysis and allow emotion overshadow reason, you know.)
And, yes, the colleges and universities favor certain races over the Asians. We know that. But, if they do not do so, this country as a whole will continue to suffer. Particular races will fall further and further behind in the academic arena and face even further deprivations in educational opportunities. On this issue, I believe we must look at the interest of the country from a larger perspective.
And, it is hard to make a case of Asian discrimination here. Asians make up about 5.6% in population, but 21.1% in the Harvard student body. If anything, Asians are already over-represented.
I don't see a crusade for justice here. What I see is the same battle that was fought for by countless Asian tiger moms and dads -- name brand education, whatever the price.