The courts were empowered to impose the death sentence for certain crimes.是什么意思？

The courts were empowered to impose the death sentence for certain crimes.

法院有权因某些罪行判处罪犯死刑。

the

art. 指已提到的人（物），指说话人与听者已知的人（物），用于独一无二的事物前，与形容词最高级和序数词连用；

例句
He did have a real knowledge of the country...
他对该国的确知之甚多。

courts

n. 庭院( court的名词复数 )，求爱，法庭，宫廷；

例句
In the absence of a will the courts decide who the guardian is.
在没有遗嘱的情况下，由法庭指定监护人。

were

be的过去时复数和第二人称单数形式，有时代替 was,用于条件从句、动词 wish 之后等；

例句
Shops, houses, and vehicles were set ablaze.
店铺、房子和车辆全都陷于火海。

empowered

v. 授权( empower的过去式和过去分词 )，准许，增加（某人的）自主权，使控制局势；

例句
The army is now empowered to operate on a shoot-to-kill basis...
军队得到授权,在行动中可以开枪射杀。

to

prep. 向，朝着，到，关于，属于；adv. 朝一个方向的，到某种状态，关闭；

例句
I suggest you leave it to an expert...
我建议你把它留给专家来解决。

impose

vt. 强加，征税，以…欺骗；vi. 利用，欺骗，施加影响；

例句
He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.
他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。

death

n. 死亡，（某种）死法，死亡方式，病危，死神；

例句
The following year Parliament voted to abolish the death penalty for murder...
议会于翌年表决对谋杀罪废除死刑。

sentence

n. 句子，宣判；vt. 宣判，判决；

例句
Heath's appeal against the sentence was later successful...
希思对判决不服提出上诉，后来胜诉了。

for

prep. 为，为了，倾向于，关于，当作；conj. 因为，由于；

例句
I've come looking for a bit of advice.
我特来讨教。

certain

adj. 某一，必然的，已确定的；pron. [动词用复数]某些；

例句
Paramedics are trained to administer certain drugs.
护理人员们接受了配发某些药物的培训。

crimes

n. 罪，罪行，犯罪( crime的名词复数 )；

例句
Activists who were involved in crimes of violence will not automatically be granted amnesty.
参与暴力犯罪的激进分子将不会自动得到赦免。