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アメリカ合衆国最高裁判所の初期の時代

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アメリカ合衆国最高裁判所の不安定だった初期の時代と、1803年の有名な事件についてのVOA Learning Englishの記事の抜粋を読みましょう。

The Rise of the US Supreme Court

At first, Americans were not sure how important the Supreme Court would be. Not very, some thought.

The court did not even have its own building, but moved from place to place. For a while, it operated out of the U.S. Capitol building in a meeting room lawmakers were not using.

And the position of Supreme Court justice was not highly valued.

One of the first justices, John Jay, resigned from the Supreme Court to become the governor of New York. Later, the president asked Jay to return to the high court. Jay said no. The idea of the federal judiciary had too many problems, he said. He did not think the Supreme Court could ever earn the public’s trust.

So the president at the time, John Adams, asked someone else, John Marshall, to be a Supreme Court justice.

That decision turned out to be very important. During his 34 years in office, beginning in 1801, John Marshall helped shape and strengthen the Supreme Court. One of his most historic decisions came in 1803. That year, Marshall wrote the opinion on a case called Marbury versus Madison.

The case related to a man named William Marbury. He had been offered a government job at the last minute by an outgoing president. The new president and his secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, did not want to give Marbury the position for political reasons. But Marbury believed an earlier act of Congress required the president to appoint him. So Marbury took the dispute all the way to the Supreme Court.

The justices at the time agreed that Marbury should get the job. But they did not order Jefferson and Madison to give it to him. Instead, the justices believed, the earlier act of Congress violated the Constitution. So the whole idea behind Marbury’s case could not be justified.

That decision was historic, not because Marbury lost his case, but because of what it said about the Supreme Court. The chief justice claimed the court’s right to tell the rest of the federal government what the Constitution permits them to do.

文章を理解しましょう

文章を読んで、正しい答えを選んでください。

  1. In its early years, the Supreme Court had its own building.
    • a) True
    • b) False
  2. Why did John Jay leave the Supreme Court?
    • a) To become the governor of New York
    • b) To become president
    • c) Because of poor health
  3. Why did Jay refuse to return to the court?
    • a) The salary was too low.
    • b) He did not think the court could ever earn the public's trust.
    • c) He was too old to work.
  4. For how long was John Marshall in office?
    • a) Four years
    • b) Eighteen years
    • c) 34 years
  5. Who had offered William Marbury a government job?
    • a) Thomas Jefferson
    • b) An outgoing president
    • c) James Madison
    • d) John Jay
  6. What did the justices decide about the earlier act of Congress?
    • a) It was a good law.
    • b) It should apply to all government jobs.
    • c) It violated the Constitution.
  7. Did the court order Jefferson and Madison to give Marbury the job?
    • a) No
    • b) Yes
    • c) The text does not say.
  8. Why was the decision in Marbury versus Madison historic?
    • a) Because Marbury lost his case
    • b) Because the court claimed the right to tell the government what the Constitution permits
    • c) Because Jefferson changed his mind about Marbury

単語と詳細

最も適切な答えを選ぶか、本文から単語または数字を1つ入力してください。

  1. "The position of Supreme Court justice was not highly valued." This means that ...
    • a) many people did not think the job was very important
    • b) the job was easy to do
    • c) only lawyers could do the job
  2. "That decision turned out to be very important." This means it ...
    • a) was expected to be very important
    • b) was later shown to be very important
    • c) was said not to be important
  3. John Marshall's time in office began in ___.
  4. Marshall helped "shape and strengthen" the court. Here, shape means ...
    • a) draw pictures of
    • b) move to a new building
    • c) influence how something develops
  5. Marbury took the ___ all the way to the Supreme Court.
  6. "The whole idea behind Marbury's case could not be justified." Justified means ...
    • a) shown to be right or reasonable
    • b) paid for
    • c) written down

解答

文章を理解しましょう

  1. b) False裁判所には自分たちの建物すらなく、あちこちに移動していました。
  2. a) To become the governor of New Yorkジョン・ジェイは、ニューヨーク州知事になるために最高裁判所を辞職しました。
  3. b) He did not think the court could ever earn the public's trust.彼は、連邦の司法制度には問題が多すぎると述べ、裁判所が国民の信頼を得られるとは思いませんでした。
  4. c) 34 years本文にはこうあります：During his 34 years in office, beginning in 1801.
  5. b) An outgoing presidentマーベリーは、退任する大統領から土壇場で職をオファーされていました。ジェファーソンとマディソンは、彼にその地位を与えたくありませんでした。
  6. c) It violated the Constitution.裁判官たちは、以前の議会の法律が憲法に違反していると考えました。
  7. a) No本文にはこうあります：But they did not order Jefferson and Madison to give it to him.
  8. b) Because the court claimed the right to tell the government what the Constitution permitsこの判決が歴史的だったのは、マーベリーが負けたからではなく、憲法が何を許しているかを連邦政府に告げる権利を裁判所が主張したからです。

単語と詳細

  1. a) many people did not think the job was very important何かが highly valued でないなら、人々はそれをあまり重要だと思っていません。
  2. b) was later shown to be very importantturn out to be は、あとになって何かが発見されたり、真実だと分かったりするという意味です。
  3. 1801彼の34年間の在任は1801年に始まりました。
  4. c) influence how something developsshape something は「それが発展する方向に影響を与える」という意味です。
  5. dispute / case本文にはこうあります：Marbury took the dispute all the way to the Supreme Court. dispute は深刻な意見の食い違いのことです。
  6. a) shown to be right or reasonable何かが justified であるなら、それが正しいと示す十分な理由があります。

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