广播电视英语短句 第 201 课：公司与自然人-1

Recently the United States Supreme Court decided a big case about political speech. 最近，美国高等法院裁决了政治演说的大案例。

The question was this: With political speech, do corporations have the same rights as people? 问题是：就政治演说而言，公司与自然人是否具有相同的权利？

By a vote of five to four, the conservative majority on the court decided yes. 对五票对四票的保守多数，法庭裁定“通过”。

Companies, labor unions and other organizations may now spend as they wish on independent efforts to elect or defeat candidates. 公司、工会及其它组织可以按自愿地独立开支，选举或击败候选人。

The ruling is based on the idea in the United States and many other countries that a corporation is a legal person. 这一裁定是基于美国及许多其它国家均有的“公司是一个法定自然人”的理念。