As The Economist went to press(付印；截稿) on June 25th, the Supreme Court was due to deliver decisions with seismic(地震性的；巨大的) potential. They involved, among other things, the question of who gets to be an American, the president’s power to sack(解雇；开除) leaders of independent agencies and whether states may bar transgender athletes from school sports. The court’s rulings will not just have legal weight but a political impact, as candidates exalt(赞扬；吹捧) or lambast(猛烈抨击) decisions in the run-up to(在…前夕；准备阶段) the midterm elections in November. One decision, on mail-in ballots(邮寄选票), has practical implications for administering the elections themselves.
6月25日《经济学人》付印时，最高法院即将做出具有地震性影响的判决。这些判决涉及谁有资格成为美国人、总统解雇独立机构负责人的权力，以及各州是否可以禁止跨性别运动员参加学校体育等问题。法院的裁决不仅具有法律分量，还有政治影响，因为候选人会在11月中期选举前夕赞扬或抨击这些裁决。其中一项关于邮寄选票的裁决，对选举管理本身具有实际意义。
Two days earlier, the court had issued rulings with a subtler(更微妙的) effect. One concerned the rights of a Rastafarian to sue prison guards. Another tackled(处理；应对) whether members of Falun Gong, a Chinese religious movement, could bring lawsuits in American courts for alleged(涉嫌的；据称的) violations of international law. Those rulings were not blockbusters(轰动一时的事物；重磅炸弹). They are nonetheless part of an important shift in plaintiffs’ ability to hold the powerful to account(追究当权者的责任).
两天前，法院发布了效果更为微妙的裁决。一项涉及拉斯塔法里教徒起诉狱警的权利。另一项涉及法轮功（一个中国宗教运动）成员是否可以就涉嫌违反国际法的行为在美国法院提起诉讼。这些裁决并非重磅炸弹，但它们仍是原告追究当权者责任能力的重要转变的一部分。
The Nazarite vow, rooted in Numbers 6:5, requires that “the locks of the hair of [one’s] head” grow uncut.(源于《民数记》6:5的拿细耳人誓言要求“头上的发绺”不可剪断。) For Damon Landor, a Rastafarian, a two-decade commitment had led to dreadlocks(头发（尤指一缕缕的）) that reached his knees. In 2020, wary of(对…小心谨慎) the grooming policies in Louisiana’s prison system, Mr Landor arrived at the Raymond Laborde Correctional Centre clutching(紧握；抓牢) a copy of Ware v Louisiana Department of Corrections, in which an appeals court ruled that a federal law protected Rastafarians’ right to keep their locks. But when Mr Landor showed the decision to prison guards, one threw it in the trash. Two others handcuffed him to a chair and shaved his head.
源于《民数记》6:5的拿细耳人誓言要求“头上的发绺”不可剪断。对于拉斯塔法里教徒达蒙·兰多尔来说，二十年的坚守让他的长发绺长到了膝盖。2020年，出于对路易斯安那州监狱系统仪容政策的担忧，兰多尔先生抵达雷蒙德·拉博德惩教中心时，手里攥着一份《韦尔诉路易斯安那州惩教局》案的判决书，其中上诉法院裁定联邦法律保护拉斯塔法里教徒保留发绺的权利。但当兰多尔先生向狱警出示该判决时，一名狱警将其扔进垃圾桶。另外两名狱警将他铐在椅子上，剃光了他的头发。