Usher in the Trump Court. The concept of stare decisis is not likely to be respected, as has already been demonstrated by a high court willing to simply state that a prior ruling was "wrongly decided." Roe v. Wade will go the way of Dred Scott v. Sandford (which may, under this administration) once again be considered "good law."
Democrats - if you want to control the courts, you need to win elections. In order to do that, you need to give the power back to the people and take it away from corrupt Pelosi and Schumer. The people clearly wanted Bernie Sanders, but the party forced Hillary, who was unlikable and a phony, down everyone's throat.
There were 17 Republican candidates. I preferred many to Trump, but the people wanted Trump. They picked him. He won. Learn from this.
2
Guess what, Jerome, Dems HAVE been winning elections! The Pres lost the popular vote, and Congress is being run by a national-minority party. Since their 2010 Red Map strategy to gerrymander Congress, the GOP has 'won' elections only by cheating; claiming (non-existent) fraud, looking for ways to disenfranchise voters, and colluding with foreign powers. The only thing you can accuse Democrats of, is not being as unpatriotic, anti-American, anti-constitutional, and anti-democracy, as the GOP. The GOP doesn't encourage people to vote, they seek to restrict the vote. A national minority party is ruling this nation as a majority for 4 terms since 2010. Before 2000, that happened only ONCE in all of American history. Tell me our 19th century electoral system isn't broken.
2
There would not be so much fear and loathing attached to Supreme Court nominations if all Supreme Court justices were textualists who based their rulings on the ordinary meaning of the Constitution’s text instead of pretending that it requires “interpretation” or feigning an ability to divine the intent of the Constitution ‘s authors. The Constitution includes a Bill of Rights, but is silent on most issues. If Americans think Americans are entitled to a right not included in the Bill of Rights they should use the amendment process to add it to the list. But political party hacks have discovered achieving a 5-4 Supreme Court decision is easier than ratifying an amendment. Political parties have politicized the Supreme Court and should not complain when they get outvoted.
1
This may be the last nail in the coffin of American democracy. The court will rubber stamp right-wing and corporate agendas, which have nothing to do with protecting democratic values or the well being of the American people.
Those most at risk, including the bulk of Trump's supporters, are in for a long, hard ride. When the economy collapses from Republican mismanagement, and the people try to take corrective actions such as reversing the tax breaks for the rich, the Court will block them.
It will, in fact, block any actions to make life better for ordinary people, it is already doing. This is a sad day for the history of America and the world.
1
Mr. Trump is a businessman, not a politician. That is why his Mr. Trump's selection of a successor to Justice Kennedy will reveal more about Mr. Trump than perhaps any other decision he has made thus far as president.
To those of you who look forward to Mr. Trump's next choice for the Supreme Court, please consider the lawyers he has picked to represent his personal needs. The justice doesn't even need to be a lawyer... Cohen, Giuliani, Manafort... No wonder he thinks all lawyers and judges are corrupt.
More power goes to Trump, and more voting power goes to the Gerimandered Trumpublicans. There are no checks to this alliance in our Democracy. After they get what they want, they will want only more, in a downward spiral. The recent primaries confirm it is Progressives against Trumpsters 4 months from now. I'm not sure anyone can stop it long term, even with the upcoming Recession, which 90% of media outlets owned and operated by right wing propaganda machines will trumpet. (74% are on=wned by Sinclair Broadcast group, 219 broadcast stations, of which only 42 are FoxNews. Making the 209 Fox broadcast networks increase the right wing total to 90%.
Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in "Citizens United" which I believe to be one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in history. I believe that the five justices in that majority opinion could not have understood how much "dark money" that would unleash or its power to corrupt.
2
All I can think is "run for your lives".
In my mailbox I'm getting glossy sunshine cards about refreshments and free blood pressure readings at republican party sponsored meet and greet events called Golden Weekend similar to tent revival lingo. And heartfelt greetings announcing parades and state park swimming meets for the kiddies.
No words on Lyme Disease, no word on illegal dumping, no word on the state of access to the shores of the Hudson River republicans wish to restrict residents from, only state run events are on republican calendars. An ideal move toward sunny dispositions with republicans who will not talk about PCBs, climate change, tick borne illnesses that kill, water contamination, they want you to forget all about that and look at the other way at the pretty fire engines and police cars.
Run for your lives, you are being institutionalized.
Justice Kennedy, while he may have chosen some few issues to vote with the more liberal justices, showed his true conservative colors by choosing June 27, 2018 to announce his retirement. The ensuing result is the current firestorm regarding when the new justice will be voted on,
Kennedy knew full well that his chosen retirement date would allow a replacement to be made well in advance of the November elections! Do not grace his term as a Supreme Court justice with the few times he voted on more liberterian issues. Remember him for how he chose his retirement date!
The Supreme Court is further proof that America is indeed exceptional.
1
Our system is not working if we only depended on Mr Kennedy's vote for a better outcome. When one party like the GOP is allowed to manipulate the picking process with like minded justices we are in a authoritarian state then like Russia. My way or the highway. There is no room for compromise and now I see what happened to the GOP congress they have no reason to compromise. This is not a good system we have now.
2
The Democrats can thanks themselves for losing the court to the Republicans. The electorate has voted the Democrats out of so many offices at all levels that they have no say in how the country is governed, outside of some cities and a few states. This in spite of how dreadful the Republicans have been (anyone remember the Iraq quagmire?). Why have the Democrats been voted out? Look at their agenda as it is PERCEIVED by the overall electorate. Top agenda items: (1) GLBTQ rights (2) open borders and sanctuary cities (3) opposition to any voter ID efforts (4) staunch support for transgender bathrooms (maybe you've forgotten that issue but it contributes to voter disgust with the Democrats). Where is there recognition among Democrats that we have a national borders for a good reason and should control immigration? Instead of staunchly opposing voter ID laws and taking themselves out of the discussion, maybe the Democrats should work to ensure that most or all of their voters get such IDs. What is the Democratic stance on foreign trade? Hint: look up "Washington Consensus". The Democrats lost blue-collar voters to the Republicans because Donald Trump stole the foreign trade issue from them. The U.S. desperately needs a credible opposition party to counter Republicans run amok. As of now, the Democrats are not that party. They need a serious agenda that includes a clear stance on trade that favors U.S. workers, compromise on immigration, and de-emphasizing social issues.
5
as a moderate liberal, the dems have only 1 party platform. it's hate trump and everything he says and does. it's jump up and down and protest everything, whine about everything. it's don't offer any solutions to the "trump" problems/policies, just hate them, scream about them and whine about them. but make no attempt to offer some viable option. make no attempt to have discussions which could lead to viable solutions. dems, where's the plans? while the republicans plans may not be the greatest, at least they have plans. dems have no plans whatsoever other than hate trump and everything he says and does. again, as a moderate liberal, I can't vote for just hate someone and have no plans. so I will not be voting dem until there's a real plan and viable proposed solutions. let me know when you come up with those.
2
Congressional Republicans know well how much easier it is to change law by packing the Supreme Court. McConnell knows.
Republicans don't believe in democracy except as a means to an end.
2
What really grinds my goat is that the GOP gets all up in arms when a government employee talks privately about not wanting Trump to win the presidency, but exclaims great joy that they can stack our U.S. Supreme Court with political ideologists.
2
It's very wrong for Justice Kennedy to resign now. He must have used more judgement to retire, fully aware of the situation of the nation under Trump now. That's the least we can expect from a Supreme Court justice, who are expected to be above personal political allegiance or ideology.
It's a very bad and ill-informed decision by the Justice. He should have waited till the election is complete in Nov.
3
are you kidding? he's a gov't employee who is old and wants to retire. when you decide to retire, would you listen to someone telling you that you have a moral obligation to continue working? get real.
1
You need to start using the word reactionary. These are not conservatives.
2
Just for my understanding (Not from the U.S., not here to politicize, just interested):
Putting aside the immense (!) weight and consequences a Supreme Court replacement carries, I want to focus my question on the midterms:
Do you think that Democrats would have a higher chance of winning in November if the new SC justice has been confirmed before the elections?
My thoughts about this are as follows:
If Democrats somehow (although I don't see a way how) managed to postpone the SC pick until after the election, there will be a number of Republicans with a sudden incentive to cast their vote while they would have stayed home in a "normal" midterm year (POTUS will probably have no hard time energizing his supporters).
The opportunity of a conservative SCOTUS for decades to come is something that will definitely increase turnout and diminish an already weakened "blue wave".
However, if the new SC justice has already been appointed (AGAIN: Setting aside the consequences of that decision for now!!!), a lot of R voters might stay home.
If Democrats choose to fight this by any means they have (again: almost none at this point as far as I know, apart from Republicans voting against the nominee) so that the pick gets delayed until after the election, they might end up having enough energized Republicans resulting in the Democrats losing the midterms and therefore only having postponed the inevitable.
Also: How will voters decide if Mueller finds evidence? SCOTUS more important?
1
This will be a Progressive calamity that will take 40 years to recover from. We assumed Clinton would win, so Obama did not fight tooth-and-nail for the Senate to act on his nominee in the intervening year-long wait. Yes, the GOP controlled Congress, but Obama never pulled out all the stops on the bully pulpit. Too late. Now, two Justices move into the hard-right category that will make the Citizens United case seem like small beer. The tide will not turn again until my sons are ready for retirement. A calamity.
5
I would like to remind one and all that the GOP focus on the SCOTUS has its roots in the opposition to the pro Civil Rights rulings starting with Brown v Board of Ed.
With every pro Civil Rights ruling that followed over turning age old false interpretations of the Constitution their resentment grew as did the propaganda they promoted to create a false idea about what those rulings actually were and meant.
Eventually they got a president who appointed a man infamous for his objectionable views on how the law should be applied and interpreted. The fight over his appointment and eventual rejection was made into a weapon. I don't half suspect this was the intent all along as we got Scalia out of it who looked normal by comparison and turned out to be the most corrupt and dishonorable Justice who has ever sat on the court.
1
Why on Earth didn't he wait until October to retire? The court is recessing until then, so he wouldn't have had to work. Then they could have delayed confirmation hearings until after the election. If the midterm elections had worked out right, there might have been a chance of compelling Trump to nominate a moderate conservative.
Now he's going to ram through a staunch conservative, and the country will have to endure a generation of corporate-friendly, anti-worker rulings, rollbacks of rights for LGBT, and voter suppression.
Roe v. Wade is already dead, it just doesn't know it yet.
The Left has made two extreme blunders that lead to this state of affairs: The first is when Obama did not fight for the right to nominate a justice. This is the second; he should have retired after the summer break.
There is only one slender thread of hope. One or two Republican senators will have to insist on nominating a moderate justice with a history of crossing the line when the other side is right. That's a slender thread indeed.
2
The only antidote to Trump’s ascent, which is quite meteoric given its nefariousness, is Robert Mueller’s investigation. If it fails to completely indict the man, America may be lost for generations. It won’t be enough for his cohorts to be found guilty if he isn’t as well. Trump, as president, will triumphantly survive and America, even the world, will slide into a dystopia that will eclipse the Cold War with a dread prognosis. Already, Trump is building an Axis of Evil with dictators Kim, Duterte, and Putin. This is his vile vision of governance without order or justice.
Why did America elect a decrepit scion of reality TV? It was because of a visceral anger that still smoulders. Democrats had become an effete party of fringe causes, abandoning its base. The working class represented rich pickings for a Republican machine finely tuned to the mechanics of modern rage politics. It is the Democrats, still not yet ready to govern, still in disarray, on whom the burden falls to save America and, by implication, the rest of the world too. Can anyone trust them to do so? Can they be saved from themselves? It seems that the Democratic Party, desiring business as usual, is simply reclining, waiting for the opposition to implode, while the Republicans, apparently unimpeded, seize control of key elements of the US power structure, such as SCOTUS. The Democrats need to radicalise as the Republicans have, and return America the Beautiful to its beautiful people.
4
Yesterday I started preparing myself mentally for an American that never looks back during my lifetime, if ever. The Democrats won't save us. If they win the midterm elections, they will delay things a bit, but the momentum and the polarization are too great. This train has left the station.
@mlbex--but remember, it's the dems who created the polarization. we pushed fringe issues for very few people to extreme limits. as a moderate liberal even I laugh at the concept of having to have 3 bathrooms. I mean, really? for how big a segment of the entire population? open borders? how's that working now in europe? who wants to become Europe? not me. so by pushing issues to the extreme instead of to a moderate stance that would be more acceptable to more of the general population, the dems created the situation where the pendulum got pushed way to one side and set up the inevitable situation where it would have to swing back. not a good strategy dems.
2
I never thought the Democrats were saints either. A balance between moderates on both sides works best. We're well past that now.
If the Democrats really represented their constituency instead of going whole-hog left wing fringe liberal, they would have won.
I was addressing the result, not how we got there.
1
Justice Kennedy betrayed my country; my friends, my family His retirement at this time in history will have detrimental effects for a generation. It's another bitter day for our democracy. Trump will pick the worst of the worst and make Kennedy look like a left wing socialist.
3
I don’t think anyone can really blame an octogenarian for retiring. His timing may be fortuitous for Trump, and perhaps Kennedy did this to allow this expedience, but it was an inevitable setback for liberal mindedness. It is up to the country to sway the next pick... if it can.
My thoughts tend to drift towards the out of touch, politically bent, "Supreme" court that isn't very "Supreme". Octogenarians that have little or no relevancy to today and the people they are supposed to serve.Then the younger political hacks, if you will. Lifetime appointments for anything, is ridiculous on its face. This is the biggest test of our experiment with democracy since the civil war.
3
As a young attorney, I was privileged to argue an appeal before Justice Kennedy when he was still sitting as a circuit judge on the Ninth Circuit. It was a small case, which raised the issue whether a loan collection firm had violated the Fair Debt Collection Act when it attempted to collect a defaulted student loan. Although the case was relatively small, it had a hidden issue which is whether universities could withhold defaulted student's transcripts. Justice Kennedy chaired the panel of three judges, was gracious to the young attorneys who were arguing and wrote an incisive opinion that analyzed the key issue, holding that universities could indeed withhold transcripts. In Justice Kennedy's language, it was "a reasonable collection mechanism." That holding endeared my client to his clients, which were colleges and universities throughout the United States. We will miss him.
1
Were universities the creditors? Were they given the right to deny proof of credit for completed courses to a student because of a defaulted loan?
I feel that the Kennedy "swing vote" is overblown. He voted with conservatives, who seem to like a Kingdom run by big business, than they like a Democracy, nearly all of the time. The only difference here is that we will get another white male who is likely to want to eliminate Roe v Wade and keep big business and the donor class healthy and happy (until the next massive recession hits).
The Supreme Court cannot legislate nor can it inflame the fears of right-wing voters with hate speech and ridiculous diatribes about mexican gangs and rapists crossing the border. The fascist element of the right-wing will, however, be emboldened to follow 1930's Germany political barnstorming when the choice of a trumpist judge is put on the Senate's desk.
Nero anyone?
2
STOP this, NYT.
Halfway between good and evil is not "the center."
That warped thinking and mis-labeling leads to calling Neville Chamberlain, halfway between Churchill and Hitler, a "Moderate."
NYT, stop using labels -- left-right, liberal-conservative, moderate -- that misrepresent our struggle against the Oligarch-Money seizure of America as just a game between opponents with different-colored jerseys. That makes the NYT part of the problem.
10
Dark days ahead. For women, who are going to lose control over their own bodies. For everyone, with pre-existing medical conditions, that will soon not be covered any more. For workers, who will lose their jobs because of tariffs placed by European and other countries on our economy. For all middle and lower class pay earners who'll find their "tax cut" will not only amount to practically nothing, but in fact, not too long after these cuts have been executed, their taxes are going to go up.
There's more, but you get the idea. I hope and pray that you poor ignorant and gullible fools who believed the world's biggest liar can admit, at least to yourselves in private, that you not only screwed yourself, but the country also by putting him in office.
3
We need another Kennedy on the court. Need moderates, not extremists from either side. No matter where you sit, it's critical to recognize that moderation holds this country together. And it's not happening these days.
During his tenure, Anthony Kennedy equated unlimited amounts of monies in our elective process (bribes) with "free speech" - stopped the vote count in Florida to effectively appoint a corporate owned war mongering neocon to the presidency - ignored multiple discriminatory gerrymandering practices that has led to a decade of right-wing minority rule in the House - sided with corporate polluters in Alaska by finding that their "business plan" to dump approximately 4.5 million tons of slurry laced with toxic elements such as lead and mercury into a pristine lake was reasonable - invalidated numerous federal and state affirmative action programs - and in 2013, willfully ignored a long and sordid history of racism in America to strike down key provisions in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, unleashing an ongoing slew of Republican voter suppression laws around the country that are purposely designed to suppress minority voters.
If this man is now considered a "moderate", it serves as a clear reminder that we, as a nation, have accepted the replacement of our democratic republic with a greed-driven system of government driven by the global plutocrats that now own the place but are never satisfied.
Let's prove them wrong... Let's prove that this man can never be reasonably considered a moderate...
If you haven't done so, register to vote TODAY so that you can help to clear out this anti-democratic "majority by minority" this November!
We outnumber them!
But We Must Vote!
9
It is a pity and a shame that this judiciary is/has been so politically polarized that you can or could for so many years pretty much almost always predict how 8 out of 9 justices will vote on any given case before hand. Most important cases, with few exceptions, have hinged on Kennedy's vote. You really have to wonder what the value of such a judicial system is! In a dictatorship or an authoritarian system also, it is one person who decides. Just that there are no long opinions or analyses to read for whatever they are worth. Anyway they are twisted to align with the political leanings of the justice. Seems like a mockery of justice to me...
2
Liberals don't get it.
They abandoned America's poor. Instead they champion a raft of minority rights issues. They tear down statues of Robert Lee, seemingly unaware that the general has been dead for 150 years, so it is only a symbolic gesture. They provide bathrooms for transvestites, while local laws prohibiting the parking of campers leave many of the poor with no access to bathrooms at all. They champion the cause of rich actrices who claim they have been sexually harassed, while an influx of illegal immigrants makes violence for poor women. They champion gay marriage.
Article after article holds up the white patriarchs to ridicule, while many of these die early of cancer because they had no access to cancer screenings.
Liberals hate the poor. They hate religion. And the poor fight back.
So now with a more conservative court, Roe versus Wade will possibly bite the dust. Trump makes a mockery of the US in foreign policy and starts needless trade wars.
Meanwhile, Medicare starts going bankrupt in 8 years, social security in 16.
Illegal immigration and overpopulation has been destroying the US for decades. Wages for the poor have been stagnant since 1970.
Liberals and conservatives live in alternate fantasy worlds, unable to grasp the nature of problems that are making the US into a third world nation before our eyes.
American democracy is essentially dead. The new world leaders are the Chinese.
Democracy failed because the majority is often misinformed.
5
You lost me at 'transvestites'.
1
As soon as you started generalizing "Liberals hate the poor. They hate religion," you lost the argument. It's hard to take people who stereotype groups seriously.
2
Liberals hate the poor? What about the recent Repub tax cuts for the rich? Paul Ryan would cut entitlements, including Medicare and social security. He's no liberal.
The Repubs also repudiated affordable care.
You are right when you say the majority is often misinformed -- the conservative Republican majority. -- thegamesmenplay.com
Bernie or bust? This is what bust looks like.
6
Justice Kennedy, with the timing of his resignation, will go down in history as a stooge, perhaps showing his real colors at last.
The Supreme Court is becoming an institution of mediocre ideologues whose legitimacy will be no greater than the Supreme Court that declared racial segregation constitutional in the Nineteenth century.
2
The ongoing attempt to free innocent immigrant children being held hostage coupled with the Supreme Court's racist ruling upholding the Trump "Muslim ban" are clear indicators that our democracy is in very serious trouble. We have a minority authoritarian President in office due to the archaic Electoral College who now is radicalizing the judiciary including the Supreme Court. The fight for the very survival of our Constitutional democracy now rests squarely on the American voters. Can they overcome gerrymandering, voter suppression, the right-wing media, Russian interference and complacency and vote to take the first step to save it this November? This may not keep the Court from an even further extreme rightward drift in the short-term; but with all three branches now firmly in the grip of the Party of Trump, it may be our last chance to halt the increasingly rapid slide into autocracy.
6
There is an outfit called Postcards to Voters, they have been sending out handwritten postcards to every registered voter in every special election since Trump took office. There have been something like 45 special elections with Democrats winning about 42 of them. This thing works If you are angry find them and sign up.
Also contact your local democratic party and you can do texting or go door to door. You can work on whatever election you want, like Beto O'Roarke who is fighing to win a Senate seat in Texas. Make sure everyone you know is registered and drive them to the polls if you have to. The future of the United
State is at stake in November, do somehting about it.
2
In a comment I made yesterday I said let's keep our fingers crossed that Kennedy stays on. Well, the worst case scenario has happened. His departure will usher in a tidal wave of reactionary court rulings, none of which will benefit the poor and working class.
3
Kennedy seems to have timed his resignation perfectly in order not only to give the Republicans another court pick, but to influence the mid term elections by energizing the conservatives. He is effectively doing to the mid terms what Comey did to the 2016 election. He could easily have waited a few months, or left a few months earlier, but apparently decided to maximize the effect of his departure.
3
Comey had three choices:
1. Say nothing and have the DOJ make the decision;
2. Exonerate Hillary, as he did; or
3. Recommend criminal charges.
Choice 1. and Choice 2. would have yielded the same outcome. Comey did his best to try to place a very, very flawed individual in her best light - a impossible task. Now if Biden or Bernard Sanders was the nominee the above would be academic - wouldn't it. Bad choices equal bad results. Conclusion: Hillary should have never, ever been the Donkey's nominee. A grave mistake for which no one with culpability has taken any responsibility for - including madam Clinton herself.
3
This is great news. Trump said I would be tired of winning, but I'm not yet.
7
Why did Justice Kennedy decide to resign now? could he have not waited to do so AFTER the mid-term elections when there is a good chance that a Democratic majority will be elected in both chambers of Congress?
3
There is zero chance that the Democrats will win the Senate in November. It's mostly Democratic Senators up for reelection in states that Trump won by large margins. Even if Kennedy had waited until after the midterms to retire, Trump would still have gotten his nominee approved by the Senate.
Justice Kennedy,
You may not be a politician but after the Senator who shall not be named prevented the appointment of judge Garland why not wait till after November. After 30 years on the Court you couldn’t wait a couple of months? My opinion of you as human being went down several notches not that you care. But others will and over time you will be forever linked to our modern day Mussolini. Bet the grand kids will love that.
13
I think that if the left hadn't treated Sarah Sanders and the others the way they did, he'd have stayed another three years.
5
Presidents come and go, but during my almost 70 years the most important concern I've had is the U.S. Supreme Court. It breaks my heart that "fair" is now considered "liberal" for those seeking a negative slant against decisions. It also breaks my heart that the GOP is fiddling while Trump burns down our house.
5
I don't know why we need a supreme court. It's just another political body where the justices decide based on the outcomes they desire rather than careful consideration of the constitution and law.
3
Two predictions for the future of SCOTUS, neither ideal, but I think increasingly likely:
1. No Justice will ever be confirmed again except when the Presidency and Senate are under one party power; and,
2. Presuming all 9 seats are filled and with a 5-4 conservative majority, the next time a Democratic President and Democratic-controlled Senate exist, two additional justices will be confirmed, bringing the total to 11, with a 6-5 liberal majority.
1
"the next time a Democratic President and Democratic-controlled Senate exist"
Putting things in bullet points doesn't make them more likely. You can't add seats to the Supreme Court without a change in law, which requires the consent of the House of Representatives. Good luck.
1
Fair point, allow me to amend:
2. Presuming all 9 seats are filled and with a 5-4 conservative majority, the next time a Democratic President and Democratic-controlled Congress exist, two additional justices will be confirmed, bringing the total to 11, with a 6-5 liberal majority.
It's time to return to the days of strict constitutional constructionists on the court who reflect the intentions of the founding fathers. Thank goodness we have a president in the White House who agrees that Supreme Court justices are tasked with the job of interpreting and not making the law.
5
So, you think Trump even thinks that deeply?
I disagree, based on his own comments.
I highly doubt that the founding fathers wanted laws made to take away the rights of women and the working class.
3
Strict constructionism is self serving myth of reactionaries.
Those on the right cheering Kennedy's retirement and another SCOTUS pick for Donald Trump should be reminded this - be careful what you wish for; you just might get it.
2
Great, I wish for five more picks for Pres. Trump with special attention to Ginsburg and Sotomayor.
3
"But Hillary won the popular vote." Get that out there before someone from the northeast reacts first. A rather meaningless stat...much like the guy who has the best batting average in the league but plays on the last place team.
All this Democratic angst could have been avoided had you not nominated such a horrible candidate. Even with the DNC stacking the deck for her, still failed.
3
Please continue to tell us how Bernie Sanders could have won over Trump. And don't forget it really is Hillary Clinton's fault that Trump is President because she was such a "flawed" candidate. Oh and remember to throw in the DNC rigged the primary. I think I have covered the most salient points for the enraged.
2
Curious timing on Kennedy's retirement.
It will be a great motivator for GOP moderates at the polls.
Years from now we'll probably learn about this "deal."
4
One man can throw a republic into chaos. Can remove the last safeguard against tyranny.
One man can determine the fate of millions of us.
It's just incredibly sad.
2
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 85, and if Trump replaces her we'd get a 6-3 conservative majority that would decide law on behalf of the owners of the political economy, and not for the benefit of the masses of worker-consumers. The farmers will always be right, and the goats will always be wrong.
Sure, the wedge issues will chafe the people, but the real issues that bind us no matter what political team we root for will be decided not in our favor but in the favor of those who run the major banks, corporations, and run the government.
Congress and the president can never pass sufficiently strident laws that would benefit the ruling class because there are just enough Ocasio-Cortez's around to muck things up, plus the media still acts to some degree as a gadfly, forcing the status quo politicians to address the bites and stings that make good copy and reels.
So they turn to the courts to evolve the laws they can get passed, to the point where they can become sufficiently strident through application of case law. The evolution of section 215 of the Patriot Act is one such example noted in this article:
Democratic Senators Issue Strong Warning About
Use of the Patriot Act, CHARLIE SAVAGE, March 16,
2012, New York Times
"The interpretation of Section 215 that authorizes this
secret surveillance operation is apparently not obvious
from a plain text reading of the provision, and was developed through a series of classified rulings by the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court.”
1
Ruth Bader Ginsberg will go to her grave before she retires during the term of a Republican president. She can barely stay awake during deliberations before the court, but her leftist leaning is so entrenched in her soul that she will die on the bench rather than do what is best for the country, which is to just get out.
2
Trump should have moved to recuse her in any case involving the administration over those awful things she said about him.
I think their point is that we the every day voters and non voters are the goats.
Anyone who thinks Kennedy had a positive effect on the Constitution and our waning democracy by being a member of the Court for so long should read Justice Stephens’ dissent in Citizens.
Kennedy engaged in all manner of specious jurisprudential hooky do in ignoring the Court’s procedural rules regarding standing and justiciable issues and in ignoring and deliberately misconstruing a century’s worth of precedent on the nexus of the 1st Amendment and corporations in the campaign finance context.
Especially enlightening on Kennedy’s approach to the hallowed position he occupied was his cynical and deliberately false comment in the decision, that there were mechanisms in place for full disclosure of the source of monies Citizens would unleash, when the briefs in the case pointed out that the money would be dark.
It’s still dark. And in the main it’s used for alt right disinformation campaigns spinning magical thinking alternative universe stuff akin to Foxy News, to reinforce the views of benighted voters who have drunk the Trumpo Kool Aid.
Kennedy’s legacy in the fullness of time will be Citizens, all Citizens, especially if our democracy doesn’t survive.
2
Hopefully a balanced replacement will be appointed . Just thankful this replacement won't come from the ranks of the Democrat Party whose leadership is now ' occupied ' by their Far Left radical wing. ( wife )
5
We have never seen so much panic and fear mongering among the left wing press as we see with the retirement of this conservative, Reagan appointed judge. I think that the reason might be that after losing election after election for ten years, liberals have comfortably been using activist courts to do an end run around the ballot box.
Oh how the wheel does turn.
7
Why go through all the fuss and muss of a constitutional amendment when a nationwide injunction from some guy on an island will do just fine? After all, Watson ruling by decree is just one man, one vote.
I do appreciate the social justice decisions that Justice Kennedy helped decisively to bring into being. I also deplore and find counter productive to our society the decisions he supported that coarsened political life: He gave us George W. Bush in the 2000 elections, and Citizens United, flooding the electoral process with unfettered cash.
Ultimately, however, his choice to retire amid the angst and disarray in America, indicates "he's had enough of this" - and fellow Americans will have to cope the best they can to right any wrongs without his input. A good decision for him, but a questionable one for the country.
Happy Retirement, Mr. Kennedy.
3
The worst thing Kennedy did was to announce his retirement now. It was an overt political act and a betrayal of the purpose of the Supreme Court. In the interest of justice, and knowing how unconstitutional and unjust McConnell’s refusal to allow Obama to appoint a justice was, he could have waited until after the midterms, but no - he has handed his seat to the far right.
With his departing votes against labor and for racist gerrymandering, it's as if he revealed his true colors on his way out. That’s unforgivable.
And that, not any of his votes, good or bad, is how I will remember him.
31
Conservative right wing GOP-oriented SCOTUS decisions will divide the country to the point of splitting it. Numerically, the younger generation voters views are so far at odds with right wing decisions civil disobedience will predominate. Information and expertise oriented voters will not stand with "know nothings" running lives, enhancing risk, and removing stable long term planning. Rule of Law will belong to a treasonous GOP that manipulates us out of democracy and into true banana republic tyranny with corporations stripping funds from the populace wherever they can. Frightening.
2
For goodness sake, NY Times! Justice Kennedy was most assuredly not a Centrist. That he sometimes let common sense and decency guide his vote on important issues doesn't excuse the many times he voted with a right wing judicial majority.
He is not a good man. That he will not go to have a nice, peaceful retirement with a huge pension while so many Americans go hungry it shameful.
Why do you insist on lionizing bad people? We are in an existential crisis in our country and the world and the NY Times just fiddles. Shame. On. You.
5
This is huge, it will allow the President to keep his promises for the preservation of the country that will outlast his term in office. We need a court that will enforce the constitution as it is instead of getting "creative", informed by sob story. We should not be ashamed of protecting our language, borders and culture. I look forward to learning the next outstanding jurist that Mr. Trump puts forward.
6
Justice Kennedy - like myself and so many people I met during primary season - are just middle of the road people that may have been considered Democrats in the past, but are now firmly aligned with so-called conservatives, or Republicans/Libertarians. The reason for this should be obvious. The lefties have veered so far radical left that the party of FDR, JFK, and even WJC is long gone. What has emerged are socialist radicals, hell bent on the destruction of our merit based reward system. They seem to want free everything, open the borders, and empty jails. They seem to want the same standard of living for bartenders and physicians.
It is reasonable to conclude that Justice Kennedy gave his retirement decision some thought. We are middle of the road people, and we believe Trump has saved SCOTUS. Justice Sotomayor's repeated disregard for law and Constitutional principals is a perfect example of a lasting scar of eight years of a closet radical anti-American President. Even Justice Kennedy must realize the importance of checking a force as radical as Sotomayor. People generally did not like Obama for his policies, they liked him for his identity only. The modern lefties would do well to understand that.
5
Biggest theft in the history of thievery.
Why would they stall the Garland vote unless they knew for sure they would win the election? Why do they act like Russia isn't an issue yet they openly discussed Trump being bought by Russia months before they nominated him to their party (which Paul Ryan silenced with "let's keep this in the family..." after Kevin McCarthy swore to God he thought it was true)? And why would this guy, appointed by a republican, choose to retire right now, not four months from now, knowing full well that democrats cannot do anything about the appointment, and in light of the last one being stolen? This timing is suspicious as hell...
All of this is an organized theft of the USA that we want and have always enjoyed. It's as transparent as Trump is corrupt. We're going to look very silly in the history books.
3
"Why would they stall the Garland vote unless they knew for sure they would win the election?"
Conspiracy theory much? They knew Hillary would avoid Wisconsin like the plague?
2
With a few scant exceptions he was a Republican stooge. Bush v Gore, where with Scalia, O' Conner, Thomas, and Rehnquist, he overturned the results of an election so Republicans could install their future war criminal in the White House to hand out tax cuts to the rich and wreck the economy; and Citizens United, probably the death blow for democracy and a gift to the real owners of the Republican Criminal Organization: the Koch Brothers. And he is well aware that his successor will help to speedily undo whatever he held the line on: Roe v. Wade; gay rights; so what is his great legacy? Pretty much a neo-fascist Republican America. And I wouldn't count on spineless Democrats to stop the next appointment: as we all know: sooner or later, The Folding Card Table party ALWAYS folds.
1
I can't wait for a new conservative justice to come in an erase Obama's legacy forever
7
Why?
2
I guess your "resistance" is failing.
It was never really resistance because Trump was democratically elected. Initially it was just whining. It was sitting in Starbucks complaining. The term "resistance" implies any method, whether it complies with the rule of law or not, is justified. Thus it's a legitimate question when "resistance" morphs into "fascism", when we see mobs harassing politicians and Democratic politicians like Maxine Waters actively encouraging people to physically assault people she disagrees with the comparison to Mussolini becomes relevant.
With Anthony Kennedy's retirement Trump will shape this country's destiny for generations. Screaming, whining, witch hunts, and obstructionism can not prevent the democratic process any more than it could stop Obamacare.
Any one accusing the Republicans of partisanship as they replace Kennedy as quickly as they can should be reminded of how Obamacare passed without the House amending it (because the Democrats had lost a seat in the Senate), without a single minority vote, and at the cost of both houses of Congress for a minimum of 3 election cycles.
We had an election. You lost. Accept it and stop the screaming and whining. If Moeller has evidence let's see it, if not every day this seems like more of a non-democratic effort to overturn a democratic election.
Godspeed Donald.
8
Kennedy's erratic behavior won't be missed. Some of his rationals were way out there. He must have enjoyed the attention. Hopefully Mueller will gum up the traitor's plan for the next appointment. Democrats need to stop bemoaning McConnell's hypocrisy, we all know McConnell is a lying hypocrite already.
1
Justice Kennedy retired now because he is a Republican.
3
Justice Kennedy said (in my crude paraphrase): Because laws cannot scrutinize all those who hold public offices to judge their conducts and statements on a basis of morality all the time or at anytime, the promise of the constitutions is expected in those. The statement can be taken as a strong warning to all. ***** For many Catholics, a life belongs to God and an individual life or lives is/are formed at the moment of conception. For pro-abortion women, it is about her life as both biological and sociological. The contrast in those two views is surely on a familiar line of the debate. ***** If “women’s rights” and “choice” are differently thought and expressed, there may be an opening for a compromised ground. That sounds quite naive, I know, but in my view, the anti- and the pro- seem to push each other towards two opposite ends, by being extreme against each other. ***** Nevertheless, a legal decision is a concrete mark. I hope the Supreme Court be formed in a respectful balance.
2
The Democrats have to fight with everything they have to stall Trump's nominee. We need to protest loudly around the country and use every tactic available to us. McConnell is a disgusting hypocrite. Forget civility in politics. That went out with President Obama. The Dems need to use every dirty tactic they can find and make no excuses for doing so. You can't fight cheaters by following the rules.
1
The Dems used every dirty tactic and failed.
Hillary should have never been the nominee. But for Hillary, the Dems would be in the White House now.
Why is it so difficult to recognize this? Place the blame
where it lies - at the feet of the folks and the system that permitted a very flawed person to secure the Dem nomination.
1
Justice Kennedy's legacy will be written on the paper wrapper of a coat hanger.
4
Look on the bright side lefties, now you have an opportunity to engage in on of your favorite pastimes - public character assassination of an individual that may think differently than the lefties do. Justice Thomas said it best,... it will be a modern day lynching by the Senate Democrats.
6
Ha! Good one.
Liberals are sunk on this , they don't come back from this one......
4
Among my concerns are these:
An overturning of Roe and Brown, the former a certainty, the latter a distinct possibility.
My bigger concern is a reversal of Marbury v. Madison.
My larger concern is decimation of the Establishment Clause.
My ultimate concern is that this is all being driven by a tiny minority of conservatives, a group of theocratists so small it doesn't begin to hold a mandate, led by a demagogue who doesn't know the Constitution or the structure of the government he is supposed to be leading, who praises Un, Erdogan, and Putin.
Sinclair Lewis was exactly right, and it will take a generation or longer to recover what likely is about to hit us.
2
Republicans must move ASAP to fill this spot with a conservative judge BEFORE November, this is the last nail in the coffin and it must be driven in .
4
The coffin of freedom (religious in particular) in America?
3
We must all vote in November to repudiate the GOP, do our utmost to convince Republican-leaning voters that they've got to stop burning their own furniture to keep warm, and restore common-sense into America. If we don't we're doomed.
1
If the Kennedy court just ended, then we will see a much more partisan, right-wing Roberts court. We should now get ready for a national religion of strict conservative Christianity. I don't look forward to that.
1
You could not have written this as fiction and have it accepted.
A clown like Donald Trump is involved in deciding on a new Supreme Court justice.
A man who has a criminal history and who's campaign manager is in prison has this much influence.
RIP America.
11
I miss Justice Souter...
Maybe Justice Kennedy wants us to hit rock bottom soon,
Knowing that Heritage foundation will pick another Gorsuch
for us.
Are you kidding me? The press makes Kennedy out to be some kind of liberal , but look at the devastation he has wrought, especially via Citizens United, and on and on.
Good riddance I say- and to the Senate, resist any trump appointee with all your might. Maybe fake trump resistors like
McCain and Flake and Collins can finally show some spine.
2
Let's also remember that the current occupant in the WH is under federal investigation for obstruction, lying and other possible treasonous activities.
Common sense tells most of us-
NO LIFETIME APPOINTEES UNTIL AND IF HE'S CLEARED.
12
People say vote but who are we to vote for? Dems? Who let the Republicans get away with nominating the last Supreme Court judge? Not in a million years would R's allow that to happen yet the Dems lay down like a doormat every time and fake outrage when we are in the predicament that we are in now. They are 100% complicit in the current state of our country. They just voted to give Trump, who they claim to be a dictator, billions of dollars for more war. I feel a complete sense of hopelessness. Canada is looking much better - at least i can legally self medicate there.
The only way to stop the madness on both sids of the aisle is TERM LIMITS for CONGRESS.
Term limits for Congress will clean up the mess just as the flame-thrower did on Iwo Jima.
1
If there's worry now about Kennedy's exit ... think a few moments about what would happen if tragedy befell Justice Ginsburg ...
There should have been more blame leveled at the Democratic Party in November 2016 for losing an election they never should have lost. That election was theirs to lose, and somehow they managed to lose it. And the loss should not just be laid at Comey's feet, or Bernie's, or the Russians, or independent voters, as many Dems like to do to explain it. None of these factors should have made it possible for any strong party to win an election against Trump, who appeared then as now to be completely insane and lawless. The Democratic Party failed miserably, and yet it has not made any major internal changes since that loss. Even yesterday, Pelosi hemmed and hawed about supporting Ocasio-Cortez, slicing and dicing finer shades of progressivism! Somehow, the Dem Party has gotten off easy in the media. Clinton's loss should have instigated massive internal change to the Party. These days the Democratic Party is absent, passive, and silent. Where are the Durbins and Schumers raising their fists in outrage, day in and day out, leading the resistance? Their "reasonableness" borders on passivity. The passivity and stubbornness of the Democratic Party is the other half of this sad story of the decline of the USA. It is hard to rally behind a Party that is so feckless, and yet, sadly, that is all we've got.
3
I probably disagree with your politics but agree entirely with your assessment. Career politicians on both sides of the aisle have created this monster.
You may disagree with Trump but he is right to call it a "SWAMP".
2
There are so many crises that one doesn't know what to concentrate on next.
Besides this, there is the persecution of Rod Rosenstein. The Republicans are threatening to impeach him. If so, they could find someone to fire Mueller. Keep protesting that!
What surprises me most, is that any self-respecting justice would accept an appointment by such a fraudulent POTUS (as Gorsuch did). The fraud we live with begins with Trump's embracing the person who manufactured hideous lies on Sandy Hook, now having spread in all directions to leave lasting damage on American civic norms.
2
I will never forgive Sandra Day O'Connor for her vote in Bush v. Gore and I will never forgive Anthony Kennedy for not waiting until after the 2018 elections to quit his job.
6
You don't sound so forgiving, yourself.
And by the way, you can ask the Iraqis how they feel about Bush v. Gore. "Their lives" don't exist simply to improve mine, but it would be nice if they didn't serve to kill, maim and displace tens of thousands of others.
Sir, You should have stayed till the end of Trump's tenure.
4
In 20 years, no one is going to remember how this guy voted... they're only going to remember how he left us hanging.
4
There is a reason that Chicken Little is always protrayed as s child. Because it’s childish. All of this wailing about Trump is simply partisan anger. I’ve heard all of these comments before about Reagan, Bush, and Bush. Liberals are out of the mainstream but don’t feel it because they read the Times and see their views confirmed. They don’t meet people of other viewpoints. I know because at Thanksgiving I’m out numbered 25 to 1 and they think they are the majority party. They don’t know any Republicans except me and they all live in Illinois.
4
A new SCJ like Scalia would be a nightmare for civil rights for decades.
I genuinely dread everything about this development.
3
It doesn't say much for a democracy when the Republicans block the appointment of an Obama Supreme Court nominee until after the midterm elections, yet assert that, in 2018, it's pivotal for the Senate to confirm Trump's nominee posthaste. Democrats should not allow this without a brawl; nothing short of our liberty is at stake.
3
The first was before a presidential election, not a mid-term. And Democrats are powerless to brawl with a Republican Senate and no filibuster. But they can participate in assassinating the character of whoever is nominated, since surely they've had 2 years to research all of the 25 people on Trump's list. Feinstein and Harris will be the stars of that show along with Booker and any other Dem with presidential ambitions.
2
Kennedy is indeed entitled to retire whenever he wants, but his timing infuriates me. He's doing this just before mid-term elections and it will make all the difference in the world. I wonder if Mr. Kennedy has considered that his entire legacy could be wiped out in just one presidential administration.
2
It is so very hard to understand the motivations of the conservative court. It seems they have the single-minded mandate to simply rollback the clock to the 50’s, if not further, then break it to achieve their goal to forever live in the past. Kennedy, post-Scalia’s death, was a reliable hand puppet for the ignorant Right. How he can be proud of his service is anyone’s guess. Scalia, for all the talk of his “brilliance” and “searing intellect” was equally as damaging. This country is in peril with a blind driver attempting to negotiate a corner, inches away from a deep chasm, at the wheel - and the ignorant Right, equally as blind, simply could not be happier.
2
Oh well, now all the pundits of what was in the minds and hearts of the original signers of the Constitution will bring us back to the 16th and 17th century mindset during which "witches" were burned at the stakes.
I shudder to think that we now have to depend upon some of the same democrats who in 2008 allowed McConnell to get away with announcing that the Republican will NOT cooperate with the new president and his party with hardly a whimper.
Now the results after almost 10 years of turmoil and an early economic crises we find the US in a more divided, more critcal, less safer , very close to being isolated by the minority president who has no real idea how to govern except as he stated by "feel' and guts.
Well, Democrats you are simply seem to be carrying on with poor leadership in both houses and a divided party.
What's next. Trump announcing he will be emperor for life and you guys and gals still have no plan to stop it.
I have ben a democrat because I belive in what the party used to proclaim.
Now, it seems to make no diffrence. Either a bunch of children fighting over terrirtoy or a dysfunctional administration filled with oligarchs!
2
It will be the very definition of a Pyrrhic victory for the states that choose to make abortion illegal. Educated men and women of all ages aren’t going to want to move to a place where their rights are less than in other states - no matter how “low” you make the cost of living. Companies aren’t going to want to move to states where half of their employees are treated as second-class citizens...even if those employees can buy a plane ticket or drive to get an abortion elsewhere.
As automation increases, human capital is more and more essential for localities that want to maintain a tax base. Oil and Agriculture are well on their way to being fully automated industries. Robots don’t pay taxes. Just think what kind of a wasteland places like TX, OK, IA and KS will be in 20 or 30 years time without the continued influx of educated people.
3
A man is certainly entitled to retire when he chooses, as mentioned by Justice Kennedy's desire to spend more time with family and seek other pursuits.
At a most critical juncture in this nation, if this assumption is correct, it would appear that a man of Kennedy's concern for his nations democratic constitutional process, would appreciate the ramifications of his retirement at this particular time. If he instead choose to retire after the November elections, it would allow for the electorate to have some voice in the future course of the Supreme Court.
Instead it will now fall into the hands of one person, Mitch McConnell. Remember, "our mission is to make Obama a one term president". That followed 8 years of obstructionism. Or how about the effort McConnell put behind stopping the nomination of a new Justice to replace Scalia, preventing the nomination of a moderate justice.
Much respect is due to Justice Kennedy, but one cannot help but to draw suspicious thoughts as to the meaning for this retirement at this critical time. Just thinking.
32
He’s sullied himself entirely. He’s done more damage with this feckless decision than anything else in his legacy. I wish him nothing but the worst in his retirement but I’m sure he’ll relish a comfort unknown to most.
2
Justice Kennedy joined other 'conservatives' to suspend democracy and the people's will in Bush vs. Gore, which ended Florida's recount in the 2000 presidential election and catastrophically appointed George W. Bush to the Presidency.
Justice Kennedy also helped to exorcise democracy by voting for the the Orwellian-named 'Citizens United', a case in which the Court for the first time recognized that political spending was a form of speech protected by the First Amendment. Justice Kennedy wrote that decision, equating corporations with people.
Those two decisions, and Kennedy's blind radical conservatism, helped flush America down today's Trump Toilet.
Yes, Kennedy could've been worse, but he aided and abetted the destruction of America as much as anyone with those two destructive votes.
America is in deep trouble because of Anthony Kennedy.
Register and vote like your freedom and rights depend on it on November 6 2018.
83
Senate incumbents who are up for reelection currently have some seven months guaranteed remaining in their terms. Obviously the right thing to do is hold off on any SCOTUS appointments until after the new Senate is sworn in. Let the voters decide. Right, Mr. McConnell?
17
Sorry, it's not in the "Biden Rule". It's not a Presidential election year.
2
Congratulations to the ideologues in charge of strategy at Democratic Party Headquaters. How proud you must be of your inability to negotiate any sort of compromise with the Republican Party on guns or the right to choose.
Unfortunately for all of us, you chose to forge ahead with your stubborn, incessant pandering to the few women who actually care about abortion rights. Too bad they either didn't vote in 2016, didn't care enough to choose your candidate or voted for the Republican! And here I and many others had been thinking there were more women than men.
But what did I do, you might ask? In Feb 2016 I switched my registration to Republican for the express purpose of voting against the eventual winner. After doing so, I switched my registration to Democratic and voted for the only deserving candidate, Hillary Clinton. In addition, in this paper's comments I suggested a number of times that the mood of the nation was not in your or Hillary's favor, and that you needed to negotiate in order to protect against the rising tenor of violence. Don't forget the fact that without California you did not win the popular vote!
5
Funny, all these years everyone said Scalia had the influence. How quickly we forget.
5
Mitch McConnell: "The Senate stands ready to fulfill its constitutional role..."
Now he gets around to reading the Constitution :(
25
Justice Kennedy, who used to be a strong democratic liberal voice, at this point had tutned into another right wing button pusher. I will never forgive the Supreme Court majority for illegally (I will explain) handing Bush the presidency, when Al Gore was the clear winner, and this was proven beyond a doubt in the book "The Betrayal Of America", by Vincent Bugliosi. The former prosecutor author, who famously convicted Charles Manson and his band of unhinged loonies to life in prison, is a dyed in red conservative Republican, btw. He wrote the world famous best seller "Helter Skelter", which described the trial in detail. He had prosecuted other high profile cases on the West Coast before becoming a Trial Attorney on the other side of the courtroom. He has written other novels as well, but none so harsh as The Betrayal Of America, in which he gives legal 10 point reasons, showing how the Supreme Court absolutely gave the presidency to Bush. Trust me; read the book.O' Conner, Thomas, Renquist, Scalia and Kennedy are the true criminals. They should have been removed from the court, not to mention tried for legal incompetence (or malpractice; you choose). I predict the coming appointee will most likely be Trump's worst and most defining legacy. Based on Trump's past performances, he will choose the most hard line former John Birch Society member; a man or woman who is reprehensible.
7
lol. If incompetence in government were illegal then...
1
Remember folks, “Elections have consequences and I won.....”. Who said it first?? Hint, it wasn’t Donald Trump. Gotta love all the “tough talkers” complaining about the events of the last couple of days. The sky is falling in their fantasy wonderland.
7
Of course that's why they are so desperate to delegitimize President Trump's lawful election and the will of the American people who voted for him with obstruction, resistance, fake news, witch hunts, and now attempts to intimidate and violent confrontation. By any means necessary - it's life or death for them.
5
Bingo!
3
Some people knew right after the electoral college failed to do its job and protect us, the size of our loss. For others , it apparently is taking more time to realize the calamities this brought to our country.
If McConnell breaks his own rule about letting voters decide on which direction they want the court to go, and Trump gets to add another far right "conservative" to the bench before the November election, then what is next?
RBG is a prime candidate for retirement. And with her gone it would mean yet another far right appointment.
At that point the Supreme Court is beginning to look more like the ayatollahs ruling Iran along lines of religious beliefs instead of Constitutional doctrine.
And we all have seen how that worked out. Extremism.
4
Leftie immigration policy has more of a chance to make the USA look like the ayatollah ruled Iran.
2
Mystic language often accompanies significant thoughts.
Many NYT commenters are obviously better people than l, and are much more gracious about Kennedy's retirement than I can be. Kennedy knows exactly what he is doing. Consequently, as a retired lawyer and circuit judge, I now place Kennedy in the same category as Clarence Thomas - a clear and present danger. It is truly inconceivable that this is what he has chosen for his legacy.
49
Kenneddy may have voted for the people's rights some times, but in the end, he threw the people under the bus. This is his real legacy. He knew exactly what he was doing when he resigned in the reign of the tyrant trump. Voting a straight democratic ticket is the only hope for the preservation of our democracy
14
Kennedy is retiring now because he wants Trump to nominate and appoint his successor. That speaks volumes about who Anthony M. Kennedy is and what he stands for.
34
You must be a mind reader. Or maybe he's just tired.
2
I am seriously worried. Trump has never been a conservative nor a Republican; he is just pretending to be. He is not religious either.
He has cheated on three wives. I don't know why Melania is putting up with him, but it is her choice.
Donald Trump has never, ever read the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, nor the Declaration of Independence, which every goddang politician in this country should know.
3
Uh, Melania is in it for the money. There is a contract. That much is obvious.
So if in 2020 the Dems win the presidency and get a Congress that looks like 2008, they should add one or two more justices. They'll need to eliminate the filibuster since a few Dems in the Senate won't vote for it.
3
The filibuster for judges has already been eliminated, first
by Harry Reed in 2013 - big mistake -- which opened the door for McConnell to do do so now.
2
Unless there is a compelling and urgent reason for retiring months before an election which might have restored sanity and perspective to Congress, Kennedy will not be remembered for his judicial perspective but for abandoning ship and enabling extremists, including the sorry excuse for a president to ram through illiberal reversals of progress. Shame on him!
14
Yes this was the Kennedy Court, and its mark will be everlasting on our planet. When Kennedy decided to halt the Florida recount calling it a federal issue (haha) the 2000 election was delivered to Bush instead of Gore, who since 1985 had been pleading with his colleagues to curb carbon pollution causing global warming, so the pollution issue was ignored for another eight years.
Now, the GOP is repealing Obama's Clean Power Plan, while the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere over 400 PPM far higher than the safety of 350, and far, far higher than it has ever been during human civilization, and it is rising higher ...
The Kennedy may have held on to some measures of social progress during his tenure, but in 2000 he voted, in effect, for ignorance, recklessness, and catastrophe.
15
I'm sorry to feel so badly about this, but we as Dems are sunk unless some sort of miracle occurs in November. This (Kennedy's retiring) will pull more swing voters to Trump's side.
4
Why do you think this will pull swing voters to that awful man?
It is a disgrace that Mr Kennedy seems to be the only one justice who was for what most Americans supported. Health care , climate worries health care. I feel the Supreme Court after hearing from NYT's how bad the other GOP justices have been supporting bad GOP laws and oil companies there needs to be term limits and people should get to pick the justices instead of the usually bad GOP leadership. We need fresh thinking people in there not a 30 year term limit. That is out of touch these days and will keep a country from moving ahead.
Kennedy's unpredictability in major cases gave his votes more gravitas than they sometimes deserved, but they also indicated the thought he gave those decisions. "Knee-jerk" is not a term anyone would use to describe his judgements, but without his deciding votes some of the most important decisions of the last 40 years are likely to be reargued.
It's ironic that Justice Kennedy's replacement will be be chosen by the most thoughtless, ill-considered, dictatorial President in our lifetimes.
After the blue wave hits, and Democrats control both houses and the presidency, they should invoke the nuclear option. The President should then request 2 additional Supreme Court judges, for a total of 11. Install two young, liberal, judges. Mitch McConnell’s been inventing changing and applying rules to get his political way, so he should have no objection.
2
The Republican Party is continues to get more extremist in its views, while Democrats stay mostly where they’ve been. Then the Republicans yell at the Democrats for being so ideologically apart from them. Repeat.
Kennedy helped illustrate this perfectly with his final decisions.
Good riddance!
3
thanks for my daily laugh, as the Democratic party becomes openly socialist.
2
What I find surprising is that Kennedy is willing to have his entire legacy tied to Trump by choosing now to retire. It may not be fair, but it is true.
7
Does anyone really think hyper-partisan SCOTUS appointments are a good idea?
It’s a fundamental flaw of the US Constitution, or at least US conventions on the exercise of the powers of the executive and legislative branches, that SCOTUS appointments are so highly politicized and controversial.
There should be an independent committee that consults the judiciary and makes its nomination for approval by the President/ Congress.
This area is crying out for Constitutional reform.
20
There’s nothing wrong with the Constitution. Appointments have become hyper partisan because the country has become hyper partisan. I am 69 and a lawyer since 1978. Great deference used to be given to the President’s choice because in most of the cases the nominees were only slightly right or left of center. Presidents did not use ultra right wing “think tanks” to pick their nominee.
1
If ivanka nd Jared have any influence at all, this is the time to convince their father to think of the country and the well-being of its citizens when making his nomination. It will do no good to them and their children to have in place another ideological Neanderthal that will convulse American society. But this is too much to ask from a president that has no vision for the future and sees the world from a narrow, self-glorifying perspective
3
Oh, please, give it up. They ARE him, dressed better and with the sense to keep their mouths shut in public or couch comments in politically acceptable language. They may find his association with the haters on the extreme right "distasteful," but are perfectly willing to accept that as part of the deal to extend and preserve their own wealth.
1
If the rulings of a Supreme Court Justice are predictable, if these rulings are made not on their interpretation or knowledge of the law but by the strength of their political convictions, then it's time to examine the relevance of this influential institution.
8
Wow! This is short nearsightedness at it's saddest and is more dangerous than Trump. Like a kidney stone he'll pass, but you're suggesting that the nation dissolve the constitution.
No Thank-you!
2
NO!
2
It is a little too early for an elegy . . . and a full analysis for another SC Justice with ways of thinking that do not lend themselves to a quick bullet list.
I never thought I could find a Scalia opinion that I could enjoy, but his assessment of Kennedy's phrasing -- a "sweet-mystery-of-life passage" ..."that ate the rule of law" -- is tart and direct in comparison to Kennedy's meandering.
The dread in my gut: What will the McConnell gangsters do to the Court, the last bastion of the rule of law?
9
My question is why Justice Kennedy could not have waited until after the midterm election to retire? It would not have thrown even more chaos into what is going to be one of the most important midterm elections in our lives.
I am encouraged to see the Democrats are at least and finally fighting back against McConnell by demanding he follow the rule he established during 2016 that no Justice to the Supreme Court be appointed until after the election, so the people in this country have a say in that appointment. Also, there is some hope that either Senator Collins or Murkowski might be the swing vote against an anti-choice, super conservative nominee if McConnell goes ahead and tries to railroad an appointment through before the election.
4
Right.
We just cannot let the deplorables, clingers or others with whom you disagree politically be thought of as "people" or to have any influence.
That would be unacceptable.
1
I am a 72 year old grandmother with two granddaughters, so yes I would like to see their right to "choice" preserved, and I am unapologetic about that. Justice Kennedy at least brought needed balance to SCOTUS, and I am all for having balance, not denying influence to others.
The Republicans cannot have it both ways. I want McConnell to explain publicly why it was ok to deny President Obama the right to appoint a Supreme Court Justice nominee because it was an election year, but now it is ok for Trump to do so in the same circumstances.
I'm pretty sure he's retiring now because he sees a 'blue wave' coming in the Nov. election. No doubt there is pressure from Trump & R's that any justice thinking of retiring do it before the election. McConnell is a blatant hypocrite.
Vote like your life depends on it...because now it does.
88
L, if only that were true. We are often left with nothing but terrible choices to vote for. Corporations and their lobbyists will confound your vote -- this is proven again and again. I am not saying dont vote; but your message is naive in 2018.
I looks as though Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan will have to join the #MeToo movement.
2
“Justice Kennedy valued civility and dignity, and [this president’s] years seemed to take a toll. In Tuesday’s decision upholding [the president’s] travel ban, he seemed to chide the president for incivility even as he said the courts could do nothing to force him to behave with the decorum Justice Kennedy prized”.
Then why did Justice Kennedy award him a 5-4 decision?The Justice knew that the ban was prejudicial to a particular religion and several countries. Why didn’t he honor the Constitution and uphold the rights of Americans to worship as they choose without fear of persecution?
European immigrants came to America and freely practiced their religions without fear of reprisals by the government so why can't Muslims be given the same respect for their religion of Islam? Why did this Justice snub the wisdom of the Founding Fathers to expand the powers of this president?
Doesn’t the Justice read the papers? He has to know that the president is compromised by a foreign country and has besmirched hos hallowed office beyond measure. Why reward a tyrant by signing America’s future over to him? Justice Kennedy fumbled the ball at a crucial time in America's history.
48
The problem with overturning Roe v Wade is that the implications extend beyond late term abortions--it wades (pun intended) into reproductive rights like access to morning after pills and other medical treatments that prevent pregnancy.
I think we, the liberals, have lost this cause because of our inability to communicate in any way other than militant. We believe it's a woman's body. Period. We believe it's a fetus not a person. Period.
....and we are right. A woman's body should belong entirely to her. There is no more primal autonomy than our domain over our physical selves. Similarly, most abortions are done early so that there is not yet, a thinking and feeling baby. Putting it another way, when was the last time you attended a funeral for a miscarriage under 12 weeks?
Exactly.
Moreover, most of the late term abortions that the right loves to gorify, pun intended again, are rare.
Even so, we've lost the PR war.
And we are about to lose the "right" as well, pun intended again.
Because if Roe v Wade gets overturned, the conservative "right" will be lost along with the civil freedom.
It's one thing for a minority of religious stalwarts to zealously believe all women are the property of the state; its quite another to put it in practice. Roe v Wade being overturned will be the nail in the coffin of the GOP.
Why? Because they will begin to take away birth control and morning after pills and the depth of the intrusion will be felt and not just discussed.
13
I am too depressed by the GOP hatred of America and Americans.
.
Republicans:
Love the Fetus, Hate The Child
Love the Corporation, Hate the Worker
Love the Soldier, Hate The Vet
Love the Rich, Hate the Poor
Love Theocracy, Hate Democracy
Love America, Hate Americans.
94
Eloquently stated. In TrumpLandia, abortion is abhorred, yet the Trump crime family and his Republican co-conspirators can't wait for children to be born in order to deprive them of health care, food assistance, or a chance at a viable life. Republicans have declared war on decency. It's so blatantly un-American, but I guess this just represents the new America. Bleak.
3
This is the trouble with liberal ideologues. They are filled with love -- except for all the Americans they call "racists", "sexists", etc., which are hateful allegations.
Yep, and that's the list you can write where "love" is on one side of the equation. There is also a list of folks where there is only "hate" involved.
1
Until the People Rise Up and Demand Change, Demand Better for their children and themselves, they will be treated as sheep, be rounded up and led to the slaughter - and rightfully so! You Get the Government You Deserve!
23
"You Get the Government You Deserve!"
Do you really believe that? It is a nice soundbyte but is it true? Larger events and even individual people can steer governments in directions that have nothing to do with what the citizens want (or deserve).
Trumpy will do as he is told by right-wingers. Or else he'll be out on his ear before Christmas. He's been a perfect cover for the Republicans. They get all their lurid fantasies come true while he distracts the world with his loutishness. McConnell has gone on record saying that Trumpy will sign any legislation that's put before him. So whoever comes in as the next court appointee will be a name put to him by his handlers.
The only salvation for America will be at the ballot box.
12
Kill the Electoral College. A minority of voters elected Trump, who’ll now get to decided on not one but two SCOTUS seats. Blow up the EC. This is a travesty for democracy and a remnant of America’s racist past.
4
Well so much for Justice Roberts calling balls and strikes. With Justice Kennedy gone, the strike zone just got smaller.
2
I can't believe Adam Liptak said "if" Trump appoints a non-liberal Justice. If? Are you kidding? It is "When"Trump regularly does the most controversial thing because (a) he will get much media coverage, (b) he knows it will cause clamor and arguing on the hill in DC, and (c) he wants to shape the country his own way; not what is best for America. He is making America worse, as we all know and see every day.
For a Dutch reader of the articles in the NYT about the retirement of Justice Kennedy, it looks like the whole justice system of the USA is on the brink of collapse. Would it really do so by the retirement of one 81-year-old judge? I thought your problem was Donald Trump. But then this a mayor problem.
Good luck
12
Trump has no intention of reconciliation by a choosing moderate. He is going to do exactly what he wants to do when he wants to do it without any consideration to anyone else. Why Justice Kennedy decided to retire at this volatile time is beyond me. He just threw gasoline on top of an already blazing fire. I hope he enjoys his retirement watching our democracy turn to ashes.
3
Anthony Kennedy gave us George W. Bush (Bush v. Gore), unlimited corporate dark money in our elections (Citizens United v. FEC) and helped repeal portions of the Voting Rights Act (Shelby County v. Holder). In a final insult to the influence of working Americans, Anthony Kennedy kneecapped the influence of public sector unions in Janus v. AFSCME.
I have no illusions that his Trump-picked successor will be any better, but even by the graph that the Times provided, Anthony Kennedy's voting record was nearly identical to Justice Roberts. Let's not give Anthony Kennedy credit for anything other than someone who helped destroy our democracy many times over.
16
Very little room for doubt regarding the political leaning for trumps selections for SCOTUS, a lawmaking group supposedly above politics and partisanship. Count on revisiting Roe vs Wade, gay rights etc. to say nothing of issues surrounding the EPA, Labor and healthcare. Reminds me a bit of other well known despot tactics to corrupt the legislative branch thereby clearing the way for atrocious actions.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived!
1
This is the best news I’ve heard all year.
3
I absolutely hate that many are celebrating the fact that Trump gets to pick the next Supreme Court Justice and therefore "we win". The Supreme Court should be apolitical. They should not be conservative or liberal. They should be jurists. They should support and interpret the Constitution although after all these years there should not be much left to interpret. I decry all the 5-4 votes, so easily predictable, regardless of which way the vote goes. I infrequently have hope when I see a vote where Clarence Thomas and Ruth Ginsburg are on the same side, no matter what side it is. When "we win" with a Supreme Court nomination, we all lose a little something of ourselves and our country. 5-4 votes do not establish law, they establish divisions among us. They make the Supreme Court more of a disappointment than the US Congress.
29
What the Conservatives want is a legal system that will support the white christian male hegemony and be hostile to women and minorities. In Donald Trump's America the blue America (the majority of the people) who didn't are the enemy. Mr. President when you throw the people you don't like out of the courthouse you send them into the streets. Once they take their disputes in the streets it is very hard to get them back in the courthouse.
19
Two words.."Citizens Untied". Justice Kennedy will be remembered as an enabler for the Koch brothers, who now effectively own the Supreme Court.
4
The Times has reduced Kennedy's entire tenure to whether or not he voted with liberals or conservatives. Not unlike for the new liberal SCOTUS Justices, the law is not the major factor in decisions. In fact, the law seems less and less important in much of the "analysis" of the SCOTUS. It's as though the SCOTUS members are on 2 separate teams in a tournament; hence, the "one side has suffered a major blow" position held by ideologues right now.
4
Say goodnight America - our slow slide into a new dark ages is about to be entrenched.
10
I fear that you may be correct.
He represents 'the center'? Really? Voted for Citizens United, against transparency in campaign finance, against accountability and in so doing, Kennedy has undermined this Constitutional democracy at its very heart. He has now cast this country into the greedy, self-serving, corrupt and autocratic hands of the one percent and corporate power. He is canceling out one of the last checks in the 'checks and balances' of our system of government. We were already in a preamble to a Constitutional crisis with this criminal, lying, racist, sexist, trasonous President -- and now he is abandoning ship just in time to give more power to the GOP and Trump himself.
Spare me accolades. He is helping the governmental overthrow that has actually already happened andi is deepening. All the gay rights, women's rights, etc - that he championed will be undone in meaningful ways. He himself is a tool and delusion if he believes otherwise. He enables a virtual rush towards election rigging, increased violations of civil, worker, women's and workers rights -- in favor of the 1 percent and the corporations. Abhorrent legacy.
11
The next three years may well see Justices Ginsburg and Breyer leave as well. Welcome to facism:
"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power."
32
As the “Kennedy Court” it has been mostly a disaster, and it starts with two words:
Citizens United
The biggest blunder in Supreme Court history that has put our country on its current destructive path.
And Kennedy’s parting majority decisions should show everyone who he truly is, and should leave him shamed.
Embarrassing and tragic.
3
It is certainly a blow to the liberal wing but it is not the end of the world.
Pearl Harbor will not be bombed and the rebels will not attack Ft. Sumpter. The republic is safe.
Liberals should concentrate on preventing any serious erosion of progress that has been made. They should learn from Lincoln, get what you need, not what you want.
An example of this are the teacher protests in conservative not liberal states. They were able not only to prevent erosion of their pay and benefits but to increase them.
15
With Justice Anthony Kennedy gone the Supreme Court too loses its persuasive moderate voice that's essential for justice delivery under the irrational ideological rigidities stifling sanity and reason.
How vulnerable is progress in America. With our two-party, winner-take-all system, along with Republican party moving in lock-step with its most right-wing members because of the way their districts are drawn, all it takes is a Republican majority to reverse our valiant attempts to lift the vulnerable out of second-class citizenship.
2
Bush v. Gore was not moderate. Citizens United was not moderate. Upholding abortion and recognizing gay marriage merely confirmed the status quo, which is conservative.
Please try to find new language for new realities. You're doing a disservice to the nation by covering conservative ideology in respectable language.
97
I couldn't agree more. He is a right wing conservative wolf dyed in sheep's clothing, who came out every once in a while, against the unhinged fools who are running the USA into the ground.
1
Uh, yeah, no, recognizing gay marriage did totally NOT confirm the status quo. It was such a heavy lift against the status quo so very much so that it is now in the crosshairs of extremist christians to undo it. Same for abortion.
1
Whenever I read commentary like this I find myself more likely to never vote for Democrats.
1
Now the mid term election becomes even more critical. There's already one stolen seat on this imbalanced court. Time to remove the republican majority in the congress and start the long process to regain diversity and trust in our so called representatives.
2
I do not share the "good thoughts" about Mr. Kennedy. I presume that he has now retired because with yesterday's decision in the public employee union case, he has squared Citizens United and finally turned the power of government over to the wealthy. The supposed justification for the egregious expansion of money in our elections brought about by Citizens United was that the financial power of corporations and the weathy was offset by the financial power of the unions. Following that decision the so-called "Kennedy Court" began its assault on unions sapping their political clout. Yesterday's decision was the culmination of that effort so kennedy can now resign with the pleasure of knowing that he has done his Republican aperatchik duty of turning the government over to the wealthy right wing - at least for a while. Kennedy is just one of the five impediments to progress that this country and its people have had to endure.
I would like to wish Mr. Kennedy in his retirement some of the ill that he has caused to so many people, but I cannot. So I will just wish upon him an awakening to the damage that he has caused to this country and it's people in his role as a Supreme Court "justice."
2
If as I expect Trump nominates a Justice along the lines of Gorsuch, then radical action seems needed. If the Democrats can obtain and retain a majority in Congress and the White House in the next two elections, then FDR's proposal to increase the number of Justices needs to be seriously considered. The "conservative" bloc is relatively young and will likely sit for several decades absent sudden deaths. Adding two seats and filling them with young candidates (and another to fill Ginsburg's seat when she decides to retire or dies) would preserve some balance to the Court and its decisions.
The timing of Anthony Kennedy's retirement could not be worse-or more suspect. Why couldn't he wait until after the midterms? Because McConnell no doubt persuaded him to leave now, in time for a vote on a nominee before November. It also explains why McConnell canceled half of the summer recess-he knew this vote was coming-it is all so corrupt.
46
Extremely well observed and should be made much more known.
I really don't think this is going to change anything - Justice Kennedy was a right wing justice and he must believe that the republicans are going to lose in November and lose the presidency in 2020 , which is why he is resigning now.
Simple. The Democrats must refuse to approve Trump’s nominee. There will be howls from Republicans, but they wouldn’t even put Garland forward for a vote. Stay tough, Democrats!
5
Whatever Justice Kennedy did right is being erased by the timing he has chosen for retiring. Without knowing what has been his motivation I cannot ignore that he could have retired two years ago or two years from now. Why is he retiring right now?
9
A right wing court could not only eliminate a woman's right to choose and gay marriage, it could stand as a bulwark against Medicare for all, meaningful environmental regulation, a decent minimum wage, and any other progressive project. This is a political power play by Justice Kennedy, pure and simple.
This is war. If the progressives lose the next election, political power will be totally concentrated on the right and authoritarian rule will be cemented. Unimaginable rulings on immigration could follow, taking us back to the 19th century and the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Darkness has truly come to America. What will we do?
47
Last night I heard Trump say Justice Kennedy has honored him by trusting him with the next Court pick.
Justice Kennedy you have strong and balanced legacy to retire on don't let this president destroy this legacy.
I implore you to wait till after the next election to retire and as the Republicans have said let the people decide.
Kennedy's moderation has been overstated by the media. The man has voted overwhelmingly for conservative issues just like John McCain but somehow is held up as a champion of moderation and for the average man by those in the news media. I don't get it.
55
People needed to cling to hope. Believing him a reasonable moderate kept alive hope that we had a Supreme Court of lawyers, not politicians.
1
He basically was not a 100% dyed in the wool kangaroo justice like Alito and company on the right or their colleagues on the left.
Agreed he was more conservative but made an attempt to be objective and not a party hack.
Hey even on occasions, Roberts can be objective, with gay rights, saving ACA etc.
1
should be a Times Pick. Kennedy is not a moderate.
For once I agree with my liberal friends...we should wait until after the 2018 mid-terms when we can rid the Senate of at least five Never/Trumper Senators and appoint a much more conservative justice to SCOTUS.
5
His resignation is so selfish. So was Ginsburg's insistence on clinging to her position instead of relinquishing it when someone reasonable was available to replace her. Whatever these people do or have done, their legacies will be determined to no small degree by these personal decisions they have decided to make with the fates of the rest of us.
5
I am not so sure; 80 years old and just maybe, losing his mind. He supported Citizens United, which allowed unlimited spending by PACs; the worst thing I can think of, next to illegally putting W. Bush in office in 2000.
This is 1000% a result of the hardening of positions between progressive and moderate Democrats. So much anger and vitriol by Bernie and Clinton supporters during the primaries and afterwards and everyone took their eye off the ball - winning the Presidency. Now you will have a conservative court for the next 30 years. Well done Democratic/Progressive circular firing squad - well done!!
9
I've been depressed since Trump's election but now I'm physically ill. The thought of Trump picking a right wing conservative for the Supreme Court literally means that the course of our nation will change for decades to come. The only thing I can do is vote which of course I will continue to do. I tune out (literally clicking on my TV mute button) every story about Trump especially those speeches given by him. It may sound childish but it's the only way I can maintain my sanity. Any other suggestions?
68
Take refuge in a blue state.
3
George, since you asked about suggestions:
1) I think that apart from voting, we can encourage others to vote.
2) I happened to believe that if countless videos were made by regular Americans and posted on YouTube with some slogan like, Why Vote, people across the nation might be able to educate one another about the repercussions of voting, or not voting, as well as how important it is to think carefully about your choice. Comments in the NYT are read, usually, by readers of the NYT. Viewers on YouTube could be a wider range of Americans.
You're not being childish, you are being emotionally mature. There is no reason to subject yourself to the constant Trump-destros-democracy mantra.
The supreme court system whereby the determination of constitutional litigation that affects the nations social and economic touch stones (gay rights, gun rights, women's rights, corporate rights) is entirely unfit for purpose. If there are 9 justices, then 3 should be left, 3 should be right and 3 should be neither, obviously. A left or right leaning panel is bad for the country, also obviously. Wishful thinking, never going to happen, so guns and corporations all the way! Gays and women, sorry, it was a good run, but, at least the straight men will be rich and powerful.
1
While Justice Kennedy will be particularly remembered for his ruling on key social issues, gay rights, abortion and affirmative action among them, he was in most respects a very conservative jurist.
While the social issue cases stand out, Justice Kennedy voted with his fellow conservatives the vast majority of times.
And in crucial cases that impacted the exercise of political power, namely Bush v. Gore and Citizens United, he was in lock -step with the right wing of the court.
1
"Justice Kennedy has occupied a place at the court’s ideological center for his entire tenure, though he shared the middle ground with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor for most of his first two decades."
This statement goes to show just how far to the right SCOTUS has shifted ideologically since Kennedy joined it in 1988. That he would be considered a court "centrist" after voting in favor of Citizens United, which almost single-handedly destroyed U.S. elections by allowing political action committees to spend unlimited dollars on their chosen candidates, is scary. Thanks to his vote, we have billionaire families like the Kochs controlling all too much of our Congress. Once Trump has his way, though, Kennedy will be viewed after a few years as a wild-eyed progressive.
What I've seen since I graduated from law school is that the Republican appointees to SCOTUS are less and less willing to abide by well-established precedent yet somehow get portrayed to the public as "originalists" and defenders of the "plain language" of the Constitution (e.g., on the Second Amendment, notwithstanding the fact that it begins with the words "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State . . ."). On key social issues, the right-wing justices decide what the result should be, and reason their way backward from there. Scalia was the first among equals in that regard. No doubt Trump will make sure his next appointment to SCOTUS will be a Scalia clone.
Tragic.
107
And let's not forget Kennedy's "moderate" decision to join the right-wing majority to stop the vote count in Florida - and effectively appoint a bumbling Republican to the presidency...
We can only imagine where America would be today minus the eight year Bush Disaster...
1
maybe Trump can't appoint because what Mitchell said at Obama's appt.
This man is no centrist. He's complicit in the destruction of this middle class, of this democracy.
With apologies to Gertrude Stein—there is currently no left left here.
1
This may be the lasting legacy of the Trump Administration. They are now faced with a decision in the nomination that will either polarize the country further with a far right choice or offer a glimmer of reconciliation afforded by a moderate choice. It would be wonderful if they steered toward a more moderate voice to replace someone who has offered balance to the court's decisions for several decades. Perhaps Merit Garland would available.
26
It is amazing to me that anyone could think this is a possibility. There has been a coup, a right wing coup to put an end to Democracy as we know it. The stealing of the Supreme Court seat was evidence that the fix was in. They knew that Trump would get elected
and they were now free to complete their plan. This is not conspiracy theory, open your eyes. The most extreme voice ever is coming and our fate is sealed.
3
When has Trump ever listened to his advisers, or done what is best for the country over his own self interests? He has a majority in the Senate, and will pick someone who will promise to overturn Roe v. Wade, and move the court far right. This whole process will also distract everyone from the Mueller investigation leading in to November, and the mid-terms. If you're looking for a moderate choice, you haven't been paying attention for the last two years.
2
Where have you been since Trump was elected? Has he ever done anything to show any consideration whatsoever to anyone else? Anything that Trump does is for Trump's benefit. I certainly don't think he's going to change now while he's way ahead of the game.
2
Much of the commentary I saw last night centered on whether Roe v Wade will be overturned with Kennedy off the court. Women in particular are furious and frightened, which leads me to believe that women will mobilize to protest against whatever right wing horror show Trump decides to nominate. But to me, Roe isn't even the tip of the iceberg. My bigger concern is that Trump will put in place someone who will allow Trump to pardon Trump. Our democracy ends there.
86
I totally agree Amelia. My fear, is that democracy died back in January of 2016. And it's only going to get worse. I hate being terrified day in and out about what other rights, and Constitutional violations are taking place day to day.
The biggest problem with Kennedy stepping down is that Trump will pick someone who is loyal to him and not to the country.
Chief Justice Roberts showed his loyalty when the vote on Obama Care came up and even though he was put in place by George W. Bush he ruled in favor of it showing that Americans come first.
We can only hope and pray that who ever Trump picks will be true to America.
26
When Kennedy was nominated by President Reagan many people feared that doom and gloom was upon us, the end of civil rights, no more abortion. That didn't happen. He abided by the law. I expect his successor to do the same.
11
The worrisome catch is that Trump has already compiled a list of over two dozen potential nominees who are known to be deeply conservative. So Trump's choices have passed an ideological litmus test.
Au contraire, you'll abide by his.
I too am optimistic BECAUSE I believe wise Republicans will agree to wait until January 2019 to let the people decide who gets on the bench. I would not be able to sleep at night if I didn't have faith in the system (corrupted as it may be).
We are in strange times - but a time when complacency is no longer acceptable. We will see political participation from people, who never, in their right minds, thought they would become activists.
Bush v. Gore, Citizens United, and allowing a president compromised by a hostile foreign power to appoint another justice - these three decisions will be the sum total of Kennedy's legacy. Everything else pales next to these acts that strike at the very heart of our system of representative democracy.
53
Sandra Day O'Connor was culpable for Bush v. Gore, too.
So much has depended on Anthony Kennedy's American opinion. It could be a word here or a word there that defined good reason. He made things simply just. I do not think many of us realize how important his well lit simplicity could be. Until now.
7
It is no secret among today’s intellectuals that the wealthy corporate elites have used their great wealth to capture and seriously weaken the major institutions of our democracy. America has been transformed into a plutocracy with virtually symbolic democratic features. Sadly, the Roberts Court has been one of the most reliable institutions for advancing this new plutocracy through its support of corporations and big money. The departure of Justice Anthony Kennedy clearly presents American democracy with a doomsday scenario. However, great leaders are born during times of great crisis. Let’s hope Chief Justice John Roberts answers the call of history and works with the liberals on his court to save our democracy from the plutocrats.
43
Ha! Roberts? Give me a break. He will uphold every anti-democratic measure proposed by the increasingly fascist oligarchy. He knew who put him in office.
As much as Kennedy did for certain social issues, he was the one that cast the deciding vote in the Citizens United case that effectively turned our democracy into a plutocracy, now run and controlled by corporations and oligarchs.
The fact that he waited to retire and is retiring before the mid-term elections where it looks like the Democrats have a chance of retaking the Senate and blocking future Republican Supreme Court nominees tells you that he wants Trump to have a say in replacing him. What a sad stain on his legacy.
41
Oh, no, it tells you something much more stark: Kennedy is clearly signally that we have slid into authoritarianism. He is saying that is no longer makes a difference whether he stays or goes, or when he goes. He is saying elections in red states will not allow for power to be shifted regardless of how people actually vote. He is confirming what Tillerson and Pompeo (bizarrely) have told us: that Russia is still lined up to steal elections on behalf of "Trump".
We are at code red. 5 alarm bells. Anyone that thinks we are in any way still what we were in terms of being a federal republic under the constitution ratified in 1788 is fooling themselves. We are not. Power is now consolidated by a mad man bent on becoming "president for life". Believe what they say.
5
The reality is he showed his truest colors by resigning when the person who chooses his successor is a narcissistic, cruel, incompetent person who has a disdain for the rule of law, separation of powers, civil rights, immigrants, minorities, workers, labor laws, the environment, public education, adequate health care for everyone, a republic government, voting rights, and the constitution. The oath of office Kennedy took has been decimated through many of the rulings where he was the deciding vote. He is now ceding the constitutional rights of millions for decades to someone and a party that cares nothing about the constitution except how it can be manipulated for the few. Kennedy is showing how much he is and has been for we the minority and not for we the people.
3
The most potent weapon in the Republican arsenal is patience: they wait until it’s their turn to govern again, becoming ever more extreme each time. Nixon paved the way for the right to realise that morality is not a prerequisite to getting elected in a modern America that worships power over reason. Reagan evolved from Nixon, Bush from Reagan, Bush from Bush, Trump from Bush. As Republicanism weaponised, Dubya declared war on the Middle East in a murderous crusade that still inflicts misery on millions. Trump has declared war on the American people, inflicting misery for millions.
Incredibly, Trump the presumptive traitor, cements his vicious position daily, winning battles that fortify his incongruous administration. By seizing the Supreme Court, he renders it irrelevant to those women who would suffer from an assault on Roe vs Wade, or to the millions of union members bludgeoned by deplorable SCOTUS bias. How many institutions does Trump need to control before America can be declared an official tyranny?
33
As his last extreme conservative decision, Justice Kennedy decided to select the timing of his retirement to virtually guarantee that a Donald Trump nominee would be approved by Mitch McConnell and his senate lackeys.
Supreme Court justices are arrogant and detached from the real world, parsing the words in their musty law books and splitting the legal hairs without even a whit of interest given to the results, as in Citizens United.
But the Justices are not stupid. Kennedy picked the timing of his retirement with malice and forethought to hand over another extreme conservative to the Court. His choice was intentional, vicious and intentionally political. Politics is not supposed to rule in the Supreme Court, but apparently it was first on Justice Kennedy's mind.
Much of the response of the media is to provide accolades to Kennedy for a hallowed career. That isn't the picture I have or ever will have of the man.
19
Not just an extreme conservative, but a young, far-right extremist who will be on the court for 30 or more years
1
"I won" and "elections have consequences" are phrases which come to mind.
I think Trump has something on Justice Kennedy - I believe he is being blackmailed.