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自有传言说大法官安东尼·肯尼迪（Anthony Kennedy）在考虑自己的退休事宜后，自由派人士的担忧、焦虑甚至恐惧无以言表。

虽然肯尼迪大法官属于保守派，但他近年来的多次投票比较中立。如果他被一位极端保守的大法官取代，最高法院的平衡和公正将受到严峻的挑战，一个完全右转的最高法院带来的后果很可能是毁灭性的，是不可逆转的。它将影响美国几代人的命运。

做过演员、导演和作家的卡尔·雷纳（Carl Reiner）写了封给肯尼迪大法官的公开信，以一个作家优雅诚挚的文笔，以一个老人感人肺腑的心声，请求大法官以大局为重，再多“为人民服务”几年。

1987年11月11日里根总统任命肯尼迪大法官时在白宫椭圆办公室

2017年4月10日肯尼迪大法官在白宫玫瑰花园接受戈萨其大法官入职

下面是卡尔·雷纳致肯尼迪大法官公开信的中英文对照：

亲爱的大法官安东尼·肯尼迪，

请允许我首先祝贺你即将到来的81岁生日！

作为一个年长你15岁的人，我可以告诉你：很可能你事业上最好的部分才刚刚开始。已年过九旬的我刚刚告别了我生命中最丰富、最多产的五年，我觉得自己有责任敦促康健如你的一位八旬老人，暂且不要挂靴。还有很多重要的，有意义的工作在等着你。

Carl Reiner: Justice Kennedy, Don’t Retire

Dear Justice Anthony Kennedy,

I would like to start with congratulatory wishes on your forthcoming 81st birthday.

As someone who has almost a decade and a half on you, I can tell you this: It may well be that the best part of your career has just begun. As a nonagenarian who has just completed the most prolific, productive five years of my life, I feel it incumbent upon me to urge a hearty octogenarian such as yourself not to put your feet up on the ottoman just yet. You have important and fulfilling work ahead of you.

我81岁的时候刚刚完成了《海洋11》，又雄心勃勃地准备《海洋12》，而且同时在写另一本书，那本书的完成带给了我一个全国巡回签售。

我懂得你这个年龄意味着什么。我懂得人生走到那一段所遭遇的困难。但现在不是寻常的时候，而你，尊敬的先生，绝对不是寻常之人。

When I turned 81, I had finished “Oceans Eleven” and was gearing up for “Oceans Twelve” while also writing another book, which led me to a cross-country book tour.

I know what it means to be your age. I know the problems that come with the journey. But these are not ordinary times, and you, sir, are anything but an ordinary man.

我们的国家需要像你这样的大法官，他对每一个案子都是公平及人性地去判决，他是忠诚于美国的宪法，而不是党派。你始终是以你的良知投票，始终是维护我们所有公民的权利和自由。

我相信你考虑过各种选择，到了这个年龄的人都会这样。虽然我们的生活不尽相同，我们却一定也有相似之处。早上起床，如果名字还没有上讣告栏，我就会吃早餐。你起床后，会与你的助手碰头，情绪激昂地讨论手上案子将带来的关乎宪法的后果。我则是与我的出版商激烈争论我接下来三本书的出版顺序。

The country needs justices like you who decide each case with fairness and humanity, and whose allegiance is to the Constitution of the United States of America, not to a party line. You have always voted your conscience, and defended the rights and liberties of all our citizens.

I’m sure you’ve considered the various options, as we all do when we reach a certain age. After all, although our lives are different, I’m sure there are similarities. I get up in the morning, and if I’m not in the obits, I eat breakfast. You get up, meet with your clerks and engage with them in spirited discussion about the constitutional ramifications of the important cases at hand. I engage in spirited discussion with my publisher about the release order of my next three books.

你吃午餐，我也吃午餐。你回到你的法庭，我回到自己的书桌。一天结束之时，你回家去继续思考你明天将要做出的重要决定，我到楼下与我的朋友梅尔（Mel）一起坐在电视机前，大声猜测华纳·怀特（Vanna White）从帕特·萨亚克（Pat Sajak）身边走到下一个字母牌跟前需要多少步。（告知一下，一般是6步，有时7步，偶尔8步，绝不会9步。）

想象一下，如果你真的从法庭上退下来了，日子将会是怎样的？这里有一个可能的场景：你重温你无忧的岁月，租一辆红色大众汽车穿越欧洲旅行，小驻巴黎，在香榭丽舍大街品尝咖啡和羊角面包，然后去往阿马尔菲海岸，扬帆驶向Marmorata的古老人工瀑布和美轮美奂的翡翠石窑。

You have lunch and I have lunch. You return to your chambers and I to my desk. At day’s end, you go home to ponder the important decisions you will be making tomorrow. I go downstairs and join my friend Mel in front of the television, and we ponder out loud how many steps Vanna White will take when walking over to the letter board tonight after leaving Pat Sajak’s side. (F.Y.I., it is usually six, sometimes seven, rarely eight, but never nine.)

Imagine if you retired from the bench. What would your days be like? Here’s a scenario: You revisit your carefree years, rent a red Volkswagen and travel through Europe, stopping in Paris for coffee and a croissant on the Champs-Élysées, then on to the Amalfi coast, where you’ll sail to the waterfalls of Marmorata and the Emerald Grotto.

你将会有怎样的感受，当你从报纸的头条读到“罗诉韦德案被推翻了”？你是否想到这会毁了一顿美餐？或是毁了一个美好的生活？甚至一个伟大的国家？

我相信我已经把要说的说明白了。现在是凌晨1点了，我就要上楼到我的电脑前送出今天我想到的推文了，因为我能够这样做。我有这样做的自由，是因为有像你这样的人致力于保护我们的自由和我们的宪法。

就如我的同胞会感激你一样，我向你致谢！

致礼，
卡尔·雷纳

How would you feel, while reading your newspaper, seeing a headline that read “Roe v. Wade Overturned”? Do you see how this could ruin a good meal? A good life? A great country?

I believe I’ve made my case. It’s now 1 a.m., and I am going upstairs to my computer to tweet out my thought of the day, because I can. I have the freedom to do that because of people like you who are committed to protecting our liberties and our Constitution.

I thank you, as all our fellow citizens will.

Respectfully,

Carl Reiner

卡尔·雷纳，现年95岁，喜剧家、演员、导演和作家，活跃于舞台和文坛近70年。

作者：卡尔·雷纳
翻译：溪边愚人