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发表于 2016-7-10 20:33:05
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How did it come to this? How did an object so utterly dull as a vehicle
registration plate become a battleground for the rights of Americans?
事情是如何发展到现今这个地步的?为什么这么一块无聊透顶的车牌演变成了美国人权的战场?
"What began as reasonable self-expression has become divisive and
confrontational," says Dan Neil, automotive columnist at the Wall Street
Journal。
《华尔街日报》汽车专栏作家丹·尼尔说：“这是因为合理的自我表达演变得具有分裂意义和对抗性。”
Emblazoning the Confederate flag on your car "is like waving a red rag to a
bull - they're daring you to be offended by their politics", he says。
把南部联盟的国旗绘制在车牌上无异于“在公牛面前抖动红布，这是一种政治挑衅”。
The story of licence plates begins at the turn of the 20th Century, when
the first "horseless carriages" began careering around towns - frightening
children and causing anxiety for authorities。
车牌的历史起源于20世纪初——当时第一辆“没有马的马车”开始在城里横冲直撞，吓坏了儿童也让当局紧张。
In 1907, the state of Texas decreed that all motorised vehicles must be
registered - and drivers must display their digits。
1907年，德克萨斯州规定：所有机动车辆一律需要登记，司机必须展示车牌号。
Many of the first plates were entirely personalised - crude homemade
efforts, cobbled together from wood, roof tiles and even leather。
很多第一批车牌都是完全个性化的——它们是粗糙的手工制品，用木头、瓦片甚至是皮革拼在一起。
Jump forward to 2014 and license plates brought in $17.6m in revenue for
the Texas state authorities - drawn from two distinct types of plates。
时间转到2014年时，两种类型的车牌每年给德克萨斯州创收1760万美元。
Personalised "vanity" plates allow drivers to select a configuration of up
to seven characters - typically spelling out a nickname, or humorous slogan -
often something on the cheeky side。
个性化的“浮夸”车牌允许司机们最多选择七个字母进行组合——比较典型的有昵称绰号和幽默标语——通常都没什么下限。
These are not the subject of the dispute in the Supreme Court. The case
relates to the other type - "specialty plates" - which carry pictures, symbols
and slogans supporting a cause or an organisation - often a charity campaign, a
university, or a sports team。
这些不在这次最高法院论战的范围。这个案子涉及的是另外一种车牌——特色车牌——上面带有一些图片、符号以及支持一些事件或者组织的标语等，通常这些组织都是慈善团体、大学或者是运动队。
These groups apply to the state to have their specialty plate authorised to
be licensed to motorists for an additional fee - which raises funds for the
state and the organisation。
这些组织向州政府支付额外费用，申请制作自己的特色车牌给司机使用，为该州和组织筹集资金。
Texas offers 385 varieties of these specialty plates - among which the most
popular topic is the US military and its veterans - 92 of these plates pay
tribute to them。
德克萨斯州提供385种特色车牌，其中最受欢迎的主题是美国军方和退伍老兵，92种车牌是歌颂他们的。
But while Texas authorities were happy to issue plates commemorating US
soldiers who have fallen in modern wars, they are not willing to stamp their
badge on a plate which honours soldiers who fought for the Confederacy。
德克萨斯州政府乐于纪念那些在投身于现代战争中的美国军人，但并不想为一个表彰南方联盟士兵的车牌放行。
The state argues it is "fully within its rights to exclude swastikas,
sacrilege, and overt racism from state-issued license plates that bear the
state's name and imprimatur."
该州称自己“有权不发行与纳粹党十字记号、亵渎宗教和种族歧视有关的车牌。”
Opponents say this violates the free speech of the drivers who would select
the license plate - a view upheld by the Court of Appeals。
反对者称，该规定违反了驾驶员们在选择车牌时的言论自由权，而上诉法院认同这种观点。
But the state counters that license plates are government property, on
which the government can decide its own message - which would not breach the
First Amendment。
但该州则反驳说车牌属于政府财产，政府有权决定车牌传递的信息，且这并不违反第一修正案。
At the heart of this case, then, is a simple question for the Supreme Court
justices。
那么，对于最高法院的法官们来说，这个案子的核心就是一个简单的问题：
"Does my licence plate speak for me, or my state?"
“我的车牌是代表我，还是代表我的州?”
Vocabulary
bumper：保险杠
career：全速前进，猛冲
imprimatur：认可
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