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jimnyc
06-25-2017, 12:31 PM
This could all be wishful thinking by some on the right. But at 80, it's not unbelievable either. This would be beyond huge if he retires within the next 3 years. He may even figure, why not now?

The liberals are probably begging him right now. Probably telling him and talking about how he's the greatest justice ever. And then if he retires, watch the death threats roll in. And probably a handful of knuckleheads claiming he was paid to retire.

I added an AP article for credibility on a rumor. LOL

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Report: Justice Kennedy Contemplating Retirement

The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will publish its final rulings for this term on Monday. Some significant cases, including the possibility the court will hand down a decision on the legality of President Trump's travel ban, will be decided.

But Washington is rife with rumors and speculation about the future of Justice Anthony Kennedy and whether or not he will retire after the term. Kennedy is 80 years old and said to be seriously considering the idea of stepping down. If he did, it would set off the mother of all confirmation battles. Kennedy has been the all-important swing vote on the court, casting the pivotal fifth vote on legalizing same-sex sex marriage and upholding abortion rights.

Conservatives would dearly love to see one of their own replace him — which is why liberals are expected to mount a titanic battle to prevent that.

CNN:

"As the court's most important Justice -- at the center of the institution's ideological balance -- Justice Kennedy's ability to bridge the divide between left and right on critical issues such as the right to access abortion cannot be overstated," said Elizabeth Wydra, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center. "Replacing Justice Kennedy with a Trump nominee would almost certainly sound the death knell for Roe, just as candidate Trump promised during the 2016 campaign."
But nine years later, he sided once again with the liberals on the court to strike down a Texas law that abortion rights supporters thought was the most strict nationwide. Without Kennedy's vote, the law would have been allowed to go into effect, inspiring other states to pass similar legislation.

In the same term, Kennedy pivoted on the issue of affirmative action when he voted for the first time in favor of a race-conscious admissions plan at a public university.

After that term, former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal said, "It is very much Justice Kennedy's Court."

"You can't understand how important his affirmative action opinion is without understanding his earlier jurisprudence," said Katyal. "For decades, he has been the court's most eloquent voice on the need to be color blind -- why he changed his mind is something historians will debate for decades."

However, sometimes Kennedy voted with the four conservatives on the bench. It was Kennedy who penned the majority opinion in Citizens United v. FEC -- striking down election spending limits for corporations and unions in support of individual candidates.

He's also sided with the right side of the bench on issues such as gun control and voting rights. Kennedy joined Chief Justice John Roberts' 2012 opinion, Shelby County V. Holder striking down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

And Kennedy sided with George W. Bush in the case that essentially decided the 2000 presidential election for the GOP candidate.

Rest here - https://pjmedia.com/trending/2017/06/24/report-justice-kennedy-contemplating-retirement/


Big cases, retirement rumors as Supreme Court nears finish

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court enters its final week of work before a long summer hiatus with action expected on the Trump administration's travel ban and a decision due in a separation of church and state case that arises from a Missouri church playground.

The biggest news of all, though, would be if Justice Anthony Kennedy were to use the court's last public session on Monday to announce his retirement.

To be sure, Kennedy has given no public sign that he will retire this year and give President Donald Trump his second high court pick in the first months of his administration. Kennedy's departure would allow conservatives to take firm control of the court.

But Kennedy turns 81 next month and has been on the court for nearly 30 years. Several of his former law clerks have said they think he is contemplating stepping down in the next year or so. Kennedy and his clerks were gathering over the weekend for a reunion that was pushed up a year and helped spark talk he might be leaving the court.

"Soon we'll know if rumors of Kennedy's retirement are accurate," one former Kennedy clerk, George Washington University law professor Orin Kerr, said on Twitter Friday.

Rest here - http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2017-06-24-US--Supreme%20Court/id-95872f15f4c447a6b0ef40a97014007e

jimnyc
06-25-2017, 01:54 PM
I suppose things all depend on which side of the aisle you reside on. :)

And notice she kinda puts it as if he would somehow be at fault for simply retiring? At least that's how it seems to me.

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This Would Be the Worst Time for Justice Kennedy to Step Down

WASHINGTON -- The end of the Supreme Court term looms, and with it the prospect -- the terrifying prospect -- of a retirement. Specifically, the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who will turn 81 next month and is the longest-serving current justice, named to the high court almost 30 years ago.

So if Kennedy is inclined to retire, it is hard to begrudge him that choice. But his departure would be terrible for the court and terrible for the country. It could not come at a worse time. Any court vacancy these days, under a president of either party, triggers a battle between liberal and conservative forces. Kennedy's retirement would unleash nomination Armageddon, given the pivotal role he plays on the closely divided court and the feral political environment.

To understand the impact of Kennedy's departure, just look back to his selection to fill the seat vacated by Justice Lewis Powell. Like Kennedy now, Powell was the ultimate swing justice; his was the key fifth vote for liberals on issues including abortion rights and affirmative action, topics as charged then as they are today.

President Reagan's original choice to take Powell's place was conservative federal appeals court judge Robert Bork. The ferocious confirmation fight that ensued -- and resulted in Bork's rejection -- still echoes in today's unceasing warfare over judicial nominations. Kennedy's unanimous confirmation -- he was Reagan's third choice, after Douglas Ginsburg's nomination fizzled over reports that he smoked marijuana with law students -- calmed only the immediate furor.

Imagine, then, a Kennedy retirement in this partisan and unstable political landscape. It could make the Bork fight look like a kindergarten squabble. With President Trump under investigation by the special counsel and his approval rating mired below 40 percent, his incentive may be to cater to his base with a pick as far to the right as possible, an instinct enabled by the Republicans' move, during the confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch, to eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees.

Justice Kennedy, perhaps it is unfair to pile all this onto your shoulders, but is it really wise to subject an already divided country to even more turbulence?

Rest here - https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/06/25/this_would_be_the_worst_time_for_justice_kennedy_t o_step_down_134274.html

NightTrain
06-25-2017, 01:59 PM
Kennedy and Ruth Bader-Ginsburg.

Ohhh yeah. Looking forward to this with no filibuster.

Thanks, Harry, you complete bumbling buffoon!

Black Diamond
06-25-2017, 02:15 PM
Kennedy and Ruth Bader-Ginsburg.

Ohhh yeah. Looking forward to this with no filibuster.

Thanks, Harry, you complete bumbling buffoon!
In general, the pendulum doesn't seem to be swinging to the middle but all the way over to the other side

NightTrain
06-25-2017, 02:55 PM
In general, the pendulum doesn't seem to be swinging to the middle but all the way over to the other side

It's a beautiful thing.