Chapter 2 Translators and prefaces always grow in controversy

According to "New Yorker" columnist Jeffrey Toobin, the U.S. Supreme Court has two types of cases: abortion cases are one type, and everything else is another type.Different attitudes towards the abortion issue have almost become an important criterion for dividing Democrats/Republicans, liberals/conservatives, and also dominate the nomination and confirmation process of Supreme Court justices.At the confirmation hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is a must for justice candidates, "What do you think of the 'Roe v. Wade case'?" is an unavoidable question, like a "touchstone". If the candidate answers in favor, the Republicans will There is an all-out effort to resist his entry to the Supreme Court; the Democrats will not let the candidates stand down if they object.Of course, being evasive and talking about others is also a choice, just like the performance of the current Chief Justice John Roberts when he was questioned in 2005.

"Roe v. Wade" is a case heard by the Supreme Court in 1972.In this case, the justices voted 7 to 2 to declare the law prohibiting abortion in Texas unconstitutional and uphold women's right to free choice on the issue of abortion.The seven justices on behalf of the majority wrote the judgment of this case, which is the protagonist of this book, Harry Blackmun—“one of the most important and controversial justices in the 20th century.” evaluate. Over the past forty years, the controversies surrounding the outcome of the Roe case, as well as Blackmun himself, have never stopped.The "choice faction" who supports abortion, especially the young women whose destiny was changed by the "Roe case" judgment, and the "life faction" who regards Blackmun as a savior and a "feminist fighter" who oppose abortion denounce him as a "baby killer" and After the "Genocide Proxy" "Roy Case" was pronounced, Blackmun received more than 60,000 letters of protest and frustration. Every time he went out to attend a meeting or give a speech, he had to rely on a large number of police to maintain order and protect him personally. .

In fact, Blackmun became a "female savior" by some accidents.Studies in recent years have shown that Blackmun's original intention in writing the "Roe case" judgment was not to safeguard women's rights and fight for the majority of women's right to choose abortion, but to strengthen doctors' medical autonomy and make those who perform abortions Medical personnel are spared jail time. It was not his turn to write the judgment opinion of the "Roy case". It was his childhood friend, Chief Justice Warren Burger, who overcame all opinions and handed over this "hot potato" to him.Berger’s reasons are also very good. Blackmun is not only “one of his own” but has also served as a legal consultant for the Mayo Clinic for a long time and has a wealth of medical knowledge.As a result, the judgment of the "Roy case" not only pushed Blackmun to the forefront, but also became a label that he could not get rid of throughout his life.Affected by this, Blackmun gradually adjusted his position and began to focus on defending the "Roe case" judgment from a feminist perspective.

"Looking at it now, do you think it's a good thing or a bad thing for you to be the author of the 'Roe v. Wade case'?" In 1995, after Blackmun retired, Gao Hongzhu, a professor at Yale Law School, gave him a detailed dictation Historical records, and directly throw this question near the end of the interview.Blackmun replied that, over the years, he had thought about this question many times, and finally thought that it was a lucky thing to have the honor to write the judgment in this case."I think people always grow in controversy," he said. Blackmun was born in 1908 and grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he started his career as a lawyer. Calm and calm.From lawyer to judge, he survived a long time. In September 1959, when he became a judge of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals at the age of 51, he had already reached the age of "knowing the destiny".Ten years later, Blackmun was nominated by President Richard Nixon as a candidate for the Supreme Court, and the Senate confirmed his appointment by a vote of 94 to 0.

Blackmun was able to get this appointment because of his relatively conservative judicial philosophy, moderate neutrality, and the behind-the-scenes operation and strong recommendation of Chief Justice Berger.Nixon and Berg did this, of course, to strengthen the power of conservatives.At the beginning of his admission, Blackmun was indeed consistent with Berger in most cases and did not disappoint the president and chief justice.For example, in the "Wyman v. James case", he believed that the "compulsory" regular home visits by social workers to recipients of social assistance funds were not considered "unreasonable searches"; in the "Baird v. Arizona State Bar Association case", It is believed that if a person wants to qualify as a lawyer, he must truthfully answer questions from the Bar Association about his political beliefs. He also voted against the Supreme Court's temporary abolition of the death penalty in Furman v. Georgia in June 1972.

In view of the above-mentioned performance of Blackmun, many people in Washington political circles ridiculed him that he would only follow suit. Some people compared the two to the "Minnesota twins" as Nixon's "two thugs" in the judicial system. Inside the Supreme Court, Hugo Black, William Douglas, and Porter Stewart also believed that Blackmun's "nepotism" with the chief justice was among the ranks of justices.Not only did they treat him coldly, but they occasionally made ridicule.Even the black justice Thurgood Marshall, who has always been kind to others, publicly criticized Blackmun for "not knowing the sufferings of the people" because he opposed the exemption of bankruptcy litigation fees for the extremely poor. In fact, Blackmun's seat on the Supreme Court belonged to Joseph Well-known justices such as Storey, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Benjamin Cardoso and Felix Frankfurter, whose abilities, prestige and achievements have been universally recognized in the early translators.Blackmun also admitted later that when he first sat on the trial seat, he was apprehensive and uneasy, and felt "great pressure and challenges" for fear that he would not be worthy of this seat with a prominent history.For Blackmun, the cold reception from the outside world and the pressure on the inside meant an extremely difficult starting point.

"When you appoint a justice, you are shooting an arrow into the distant future. It is impossible for him to tell you how he will think when facing problems." Alexander Bickle, an American constitutional scholar, once Such an evaluation of the relationship between the president and the justices, and Blackmun's subsequent transformation, also proved this point.If we carefully examine Blackmun's judicial opinions at the beginning of his tenure, people will find that he is not so much conservative as he is pragmatic and a pragmatist.He is in favor of social workers' "regular home visits" because he is afraid that social benefits will be abused; he opposes the concealment of political beliefs by lawyer candidates because their beliefs and freedom of association will not be violated.When he was studying at Harvard, he studied under Professor Felix Frankfurter, and he believed in the concept of judicial restraint advocated by the latter, that is, the judiciary should strictly abide by its duties and not arbitrarily overstep the authority of the legislative and executive departments.He himself does not agree with the death penalty, but he believes that the duty of judges is to administer justice impartially. As for the abolition of the death penalty, it should be decided by Congress in the form of legislation.That's why he objected to the Supreme Court overreaching and hastily announcing the abolition of the death penalty.However, once many wrongful cases made him realize that the reality of the judicial environment could no longer avoid the danger of killing the wrong person, he would adapt to the current situation and change his position.In the "Callins v. Collins case" in 1994, Blackmun officially announced that he would "no longer make any repairs to the death penalty mechanism" because the application of the death penalty was full of "arbitrary, discriminatory, arbitrary and error" and eventually became a A staunch opponent of the death penalty.

After the "Roy Case", Blackmun gradually got rid of Berger's influence and devoted himself to safeguarding citizens' privacy, equality and freedom of speech, with increasingly serious liberalization tendencies.In "Bowles v. Hardwick", he firmly opposed the majority justice's criminalization of homosexual sexual behavior and issued a call for "tolerance of the existence of plural values".In the "Darden v. Wainwright case", he would rather break his face with Berg than defend the right of appeal of the death row inmates.He pays special attention to the rights of the weak, and often expresses his personal emotions in his judgments.In the famous child abuse case "Decheny v. Winnebag County Social Service Bureau case", he was saddened by the tragic experience of the victimized children, and the sentence "Poor Joshua!" has become a classic judgment that has been passed down to this day.Many of the justices who had been prejudiced against him in the early days became his close allies in the future.Justice Marshall also handed him a note, praising him as "very remarkable." Become the leading figure on the liberal wing of the Supreme Court.But he has always been able to discuss things as they stand, be kind to others, and not be hostile to others because of political disputes.He will lend a helping hand to any colleagues who encounter difficulties in life or work.Even his ideological "political enemy," Justice Antonin Scalia, acknowledged that Blackmun "has almost no equal in zeal for the rule of law and conscientious diligence, . . . A good man, a good justice, should be respected by all Americans." Strangely, however, a rift between him and his "guidance" Chief Justice Warren Burger gradually grew and drifted apart. They turned against each other and became enemies, and never communicated with each other until death.

Although the public is full of curiosity about Blackmun's life experience, he seldom accepted reporters' interviews during his lifetime. Even in private, he often kept secrets about his personal privacy and his relationship with colleagues, and avoided talking about it.Writing a biography for such a reclusive and reticent justice seems to be an extremely difficult and difficult task.Fortunately, Blackmun has left a precious "treasure" for future generations. He has been in the habit of keeping a diary and collecting documents since he was a child, and he has kept it until his retirement. Before his death in 1999, he donated his entire private collection to the Library of Congress.

The 500,000 documents packed in 1,585 cartons have become a valuable resource for future generations to study Blackmun's judicial career and the inside story of many Supreme Court decisions.These documents include Blackmun’s diaries and letters, as well as various internal meeting minutes, draft judgments, and memorandums circulated by the justices. The complete types, meticulous classification, and rigorous organization of the documents amaze the researchers. .For example, Justice O'Connor once handed Blackmun a note during a trial session, complaining that his hearing aids were too noisy and interfered with his hearing.Blackmun not only preserved the note, but ironed it out, filed it, sorted it, and numbered it.

In January 2004, commissioned by the Blackmun family, Linda Greenhouse, a senior reporter for The New York Times, had priority access to these documents.She combined her years of judicial reporting experience to complete this biography.Greenhouse is one of the best legal reporters in the United States and is very familiar with the internal affairs and personnel disputes of the Supreme Court.In terms of layout and planning, she abandoned the writing routine of traditional biographies and only used one chapter to outline Blackmun's growth experience before the age of 50. The remaining chapters revolved around the justice's judicial career.The narrative of the book is plain, concise, and fast-paced. It not only reveals the inside story of the decision-making of milestone cases such as the "Roe v. Wade case", but also intersperses anecdotes and anecdotes among the justices. Detailed narrative and analysis.Due to its strong readability and large amount of information, this book is also sought after by many non-professional readers, and has become one of the bestsellers recommended by the New York Times in 2005. It took about a year to translate this book from June 2010 to the final draft.Due to the busy work weekdays, translations can only be done at night or on weekends.During this period, I faced a new career choice, experienced some unexpected setbacks, and often fell into some kind of entanglement.Coincidentally, Justice Harry Blackmun was also a troubled man.Career choices, relationships with colleagues, and stances on individual cases have all troubled him more or less at different stages of his life. voice, but also continue to enrich their lives.President Bill Clinton's speech at the Blackmun retirement ceremony is quite representative of the public's opinion of him. Clinton said: "Those of us who read law are often lost in various abstract concepts. Those practices, procedures, legal terms , would separate legal practitioners from those who seek justice. However, Justice Blackmun has always stood firmly and decisively with the people of his country, always concerned about the interests of the people, and his full of human views are not only reflected in the Supreme Court's In the majority opinion, in the dissenting opinion abounds. The justice is not only his title, but also the light that guides his actions." As a Chinese judge, Blackmun's life story not only gave me professional inspiration, but also inspired me to reflect on myself all the time.A year of translation experience is equivalent to a spiritual exchange with this great colleague. I have figured out many things invisibly, and I also understand the value of these years of hard work. "Man's problem is not what he will do, but what he wants to be." This is what the philosopher William James said.Being able to solve this difficult problem at the age of 33 is the fate between me and Justice Harry Blackmun.

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