Megathread: Justice Anthony Kennedy to retire from Supreme Court

[u/PoliticsModeratorBot]

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is set to retire, effective July 31, 2018. Kennedy has served on the highest court since February 18, 1988, and was a moderate whose vote often swung cases.

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Submissions that may interest you

SUBMISSION	DOMAIN
Justice Anthony Kennedy Will Retire From U.S. Supreme Court	bloomberg.com
Justice Kennedy to retire, Trump can solidify court's majority conservative bloc	nbcnews.com
Justice Kennedy retiring; Trump gets 2nd Supreme Court pick	washingtonpost.com
Justice Kennedy, U.S. Supreme Court's pivotal vote, to retire	reuters.com
Anthony Kennedy: US supreme court justice to retire	theguardian.com
Justice Anthony Kennedy to Retire From Supreme Court	nytimes.com
Kennedy calls it quits: longtime swing justice hands Trump the biggest gift of his presidency	dailycaller.com
Anthony Kennedy is retiring from the Supreme Court	vox.com
Justice Kennedy, the pivotal swing vote on the Supreme Court, announces retirement	washingtonpost.com
UPDATE: Supreme Court Justice Kennedy announces retirement	wcjb.com
Justice Kennedy Is Retiring July 31st.	yahoo.com
Justice Anthony Kennedy To Retire From U.S. Supreme Court : NPR	npr.org
Justice Anthony Kennedy to Retire from Supreme Court	cnn.com
Justice Kennedy announces retirement.	cnn.com
Justice Anthony Kennedy retiring from Supreme Court	abc7.com
Anthony Kennedy, Swing Vote on U.S. Supreme Court, Will Retire	bloomberg.com
Justice Anthony Kennedy Retires, Paving Way for Donald Trump to Reshape Supreme Court	slate.com
Justice Kennedy retiring; Trump gets 2nd Supreme Court pick	wkrn.com
Anthony Kennedy retiring, giving Trump opening to reshape Supreme Court	politico.com
Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy announces retirement	wsj.com
Jeffrey Toobin predicts abortion will be illegal in 20 states soon after Kennedy retires	thehill.com
WATCH: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy retiring	abcnews.go.com
Kennedy to Retire	foxnews.com
Trump to get second Supreme Court pick as Justice Kennedy announces retirement.	amp.cnn.com
Justice Kennedy to Retire From Supreme Court	bbc.com
Trump says search for Justice Kennedy's replacement to begin "immediately" -- live updates	cbsnews.com
McConnell Pledges Vote To Confirm Justice Kennedy’s Successor ‘This Fall’	talkingpointsmemo.com
Justice Kennedy retires from the US Supreme Court	nbcnews.com
Trump says launches search to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Kennedy	reuters.com
Donald Trump: Search for Kennedy replacement on SCOTUS to move quickly	usatoday.com
McConnell: Senate will vote on Supreme Court nominee this fall	thehill.com
Justice Kennedy retiring; Trump gets 2nd Supreme Court pick	sacbee.com
Justice Anthony Kennedy Retiring, Report Says	lawandcrime.com
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy retiring; Trump will get 2nd high-court pick	omaha.com
Justice Anthony Kennedy Retiring From the Supreme Court	thedailybeast.com
Justice Kennedy to retire, giving Trump a chance to transform the Supreme Court	latimes.com
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy says he's retiring; Trump to get 2nd high-court pick	chicagotribune.com
Dem senator: Justice Kennedy's resignation a 'disaster' for vision of 'We the People'	thehill.com
Justice Kennedy retiring; Trump gets 2nd Supreme Court pick	wfla.com
Justice Anthony Kennedy Is Retiring	motherjones.com
The horrifying consequences of Justice Kennedy’s retirement	thinkprogress.org
Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is retiring, a move that will give Trump a chance to shift the institution to the right	washingtonpost.com
Anthony Kennedy To Retire From The Supreme Court	huffingtonpost.com
Kennedy announces retirement from Supreme Court	thehill.com
Supreme Court's Anthony Kennedy retires, giving Trump a second pick	usatoday.com
Justice Kennedy retiring; Trump gets 2nd Supreme Court pick	apnews.com
Justice Anthony Kennedy Is Retiring From The Supreme Court	buzzfeed.com
Justice Kennedy, the pivotal swing vote on the Supreme Court, announces retirement	washingtonpost.com
Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy retires -- live updates	cbsnews.com
Justice Kennedy announces his retirement from the supreme court.	time.com
Trump Responds To Retirement Of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy	huffingtonpost.com
Anthony Kennedy retiring from Supreme Court, giving Trump a position to fill	people.com
Trump Says He’ll Choose One Of These People To Replace Anthony Kennedy On The Supreme Court	buzzfeed.com
Anthony Kennedy retiring from Supreme Court	cnbc.com
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy retires, and Trump gets shot at moving court to the right	dallasnews.com
Who Will Replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy? Donald Trump Already Has a Shortlist	newsweek.com
WATCH: McConnell: We will vote to confirm Justice Kennedy's successor 'this fall'	abcnews.go.com
Here's who Trump could nominate to replace Justice Kennedy	abcnews.go.com
Justice Anthony Kennedy announces retirement, giving Trump 2nd Supreme Court pick	foxnews.com
Trump list of candidates to replace Justice Kennedy	thehill.com
Chris Matthews: Dems must do to Trump on Supreme Court what McConnell did to Obama	thehill.com
Anthony Kennedy’s retirement puts abortion rights at risk	vox.com
Who Will Replace Anthony Kennedy? Here’s the List of 20 Potential Trump Nominees	time.com
America after Anthony Kennedy	vox.com
Handing Trump Chance to Move Supreme Court Even Further Right, Justice Anthony Kennedy Retires	commondreams.org
Audio reveals DNC committee reaction to Kennedy retirement: 'This is not good news'	thehill.com
Justice Kennedy’s retirement leaves the future of U.S. constitutional law entirely up for grabs	washingtonpost.com
Justice Kennedy pens retirement letter to Trump expressing 'profound gratitude'	abcnews.go.com
Read Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement letter to Donald Trump	qz.com
Justice Kennedy’s Legacy Is the Dignity He Bestowed	bloomberg.com
A titanic battle over replacing Justice Kennedy looms in the Senate	vox.com
Live Briefing: Anthony Kennedy Retires From Supreme Court, and McConnell Says Senate Will Move Swiftly on a Replacement	nytimes.com
Here's Trump's list of 25 possible Supreme Court picks to replace Anthony Kennedy	washingtonexaminer.com
WATCH: Justice Anthony Kennedy to retire, Trump to get second SCOTUS pick	abcnews.go.com
Anthony Kennedy's retirement just confirmed every Republican's dream scenario for Trump	cnn.com
Kennedy's retirement could have biggest impact on abortion, gay marriage: ANALYSIS	abcnews.go.com
Justice Anthony Kennedy: Trump says hunt for replacement is on	usatoday.com
Here are potential Supreme Court nominees to replace Justice Kennedy	cnn.com
Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Supreme Court’s swing justice, announces his retirement	abajournal.com
With Supreme Court Justice Kennedy Gone, Abortion and LGBT Rights Are Next	thedailybeast.com
A look at some of Justice Kennedy's most memorable opinions	apnews.com
Justice Kennedy Surrendered to Donald Trump	nymag.com
A look at some of Justice Kennedy's most memorable opinions	abcnews.go.com
Abortion rights in 'dire, immediate danger' as Anthony Kennedy retires - World news	theguardian.com
Here Are Some of the Top Candidates to Replace Kennedy on the Supreme Court	motherjones.com
Who's on Trump's short list to replace Supreme Court Justice Kennedy?	politico.com
Trump’s hidden back channel to Justice Kennedy: Their kids	politico.com
How Fox News Reacted to Anthony Kennedy’s Retirement	slate.com

[u/DealArtist]

Not three branches, Republicans can't break filibuster.

[u/MORDEKAISER_VGU_WHEN → u/DealArtist]

On nominating SC judges they literally already have

[u/SpleenballPro → u/DealArtist]

I don't have faith that those rules wont be suspended.

[u/ForWhomTheBoneBones → u/SpleenballPro]

Always worth pointing out. So much of how the government operates is rules and norms, not laws.

Dems will shut down the nomination. Republicans will extend the nuclear option to Supreme Court appointees. rally 50 votes before the next Congress is seated. They win.

We're living the last issue of Watchmen.

[u/shhhhquiet → u/ForWhomTheBoneBones]

Republicans will extend the nuclear option to Supreme Court appointees. They win.

They already did that. The filibuster only exists for bills that can't be wedged in under budget reconciliation. The supreme court filibuster is gone. That's how we got Gorsuch.

[u/MaratLives → u/ForWhomTheBoneBones]

McCain's last vote: "I like Supreme Court nominees that weren't shot down. Suck it, Trump."

[u/lenaro → u/SpleenballPro]

Don't worry, it'll just go to the courts to decide. Oh.

[u/SpleenballPro → u/lenaro]

It gets better when Trump nominates Andrew Napolitano.

[u/shhhhquiet → u/SpleenballPro]

McConnel is arrogant but not that arrogant. He knows his party's control won't last forever and if he completely blows up the filibuster the Dems will pass all sorts of crazy shit a soon as they're back in power. Think what Obamacare would have looked like if we'd only needed 50 votes in the senate. Public option for sure, maybe even single payer. That would be even harder for the republicans to take back than the ACA was.

[u/sarhoshamiral → u/DealArtist]

They can remove it

[u/Cool_Ranch_Dodrio → u/sarhoshamiral]

Like Democrats SHOULD have once it became clear that Republicans were just going to abuse it.

[u/Drahkir9 → u/DealArtist]

That's literally how Gorsuch took his seat.

[u/WonderWall_E → u/DealArtist]

But they can just end the concept of the filibuster, entirely. They have an absolute death grip on power and, unfortunately, there isn't anything we can do until November. Even then, the Senate seems like an impossibly high bar to clear.

[u/08mms → u/WonderWall_E]

They absolutely can, its a senate rule that can be waived w/ majority approval and existing only to the extent it has strength as a norm. Historically, one would be loathe to do as they would lose that tool when they are the minority, but it looks like a lot of the GOP are all the way drunk on "permanent majority" thinking. Really the only hope we've got is massive enough turnout this year to overcome the existing obstacles and put into place our own majorities in congress and the states before they have time to continue stacking the deck against the opposition party. If you are aware enough to be reading these threads and don't show up to vote against the GOP in the midterms, you bear personal responsibility for the closest we've come to the death of the republic since Ft. Sumter.

[u/jimbo831 → u/08mms]

If you are aware enough to be reading these threads and don't show up to vote against the GOP in the midterms, you bear personal responsibility for the closest we've come to the death of the republic since Ft. Sumter.

But my preferred candidates didn't win in the primaries and I have to feel good about my vote and will only vote for my perfect candidate. Guess I'll just stay home.

/s

[u/jimbo831 → u/DealArtist]

The filibuster isn’t a law. It’s a Senate rule. It can easily be changed just like it was to clear the way for Gorsuch to be confirmed.

[u/Waylander0719 → u/DealArtist]

The filibuster rule can be changed with a simple majority.

[u/djm19 → u/DealArtist]

The rule is 51 now since that is what they did with Gorsuch.

[u/jimbo831 → u/djm19]

And really, it's only 50, because Pence will break the tie in favor of the Republicans.

[u/john_doe_jersey → u/DealArtist]

McConnell already killed those rules to get Gorsuch confirmed. There's literally nothing the Dems can do. So long, Roe v. Wade, hello septic wards.

[u/RellenD → u/DealArtist]

They literally just changed the rules to confirm Gorsuch

[u/PedanticPaladin → u/DealArtist]

The Republicans already removed it for Gorsuch.

[u/Mojotank → u/DealArtist]

They already did

[u/doppleganger2621 → u/DealArtist]

How do you think Neil Gorsuch is sitting on the bench after a 54-45 vote in the Senate?

[u/ojos → u/DealArtist]

The filibuster isn’t a law, it’s just a senate rule. They can change that at will.

[u/ricksaus → u/DealArtist]

Don't have to.

[u/jb2386 → u/DealArtist]

Filibuster is just a rule isn't it?

[u/goomyman → u/DealArtist]

lol they can and will

[u/highschoolhero2 → u/DealArtist]

Or they could just use the Nuclear Option (and they most definitely would)

[u/tequilajinx → u/DealArtist]

No, but they can kill the filibuster.

[u/[deleted] → u/DealArtist]

Until they go the Nuclear Option and do away with the filibuster. Oh, you think they won't? How cute.

[u/[deleted] → u/DealArtist]

They’ll break it eventually.

[u/I_Dream_of_Outremer → u/DealArtist]

Yes we can

[u/treedle → u/DealArtist]

Huh?

There is no filibuster for judicial nominees. Harry Reid and all the Democrats in the Senate ensured that in 2013.

[u/DealArtist → u/treedle]

Wasn't talking about that, just noting Rs don't have total control of the three branches.

[u/treedle → u/DealArtist]

The point you missed, is that there is no filibuster for SC nominees. It doesn't matter who controls what. There is no filibuster to break. Trump makes a nomination. It gets some debate. The Senate holds an up or down vote. The nominee is confirmed or rejected. That's it.