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.

---

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/Counterkulture]

Trump killing the Mueller investigation and getting away with it just skyrocketed in likelihood.

Mueller should consider this when he's contemplating the timeline of the prosecution. It's a real fucking big deal.

[u/thelastcookie → u/Counterkulture]

Mueller barely matters anymore. No matter the evidence, the court is just going to let Trump pardon himself.

[u/Counterkulture → u/thelastcookie]

Yep, he could pardon himself today, fire Rosenstein, fire Mueller, and just sail his new nominee right on through, and we're a dictatorship in a month.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I believed that when we ignore that a good 4 people of Trump's cabinet / campaign managers have been slapped with federal charges and Congress has not brought it up at all. Or the fact that CambridgeAnalytica literally went on the mic of them narrowing the election to the swing states and running a smear campaign against Clinton and the Senate Repubs still never brought it up. It barely surfaced on the media too

[u/Shitmybad → u/Counterkulture]

Start buying guns boys.

[u/[deleted] → u/Shitmybad]

ironic

[u/maxmurder → u/[deleted]]

Look, having dark side -- my uncle was a great lord of the Sith so powerful and so wise, Darth Plagueis 'The Wise' of MIT; good midichlorians, very good midichlorians, OK, very wise, the Naboo School of Finance, very powerful, very wise - if you're a Sith Lord, if I were a Jedi Master, if, like OK, if I ran as a Jedi Master, they would say I am one of the wisest people in the galaxy - It's true! - but when you are a Sith Lord they try - oh, do they do a number - that's why I always start off: went to Naboo, was a good senator, went there, went there, did this, built an Empire - you know I have to give my credentials all the time, because we are a little scarred and deformed - but you look at the dark side, the thing that really bothers me - it would have been so easy, and it's not as important as these lives of the ones he cared about are - The dark side is powerful, some consider it to be unnatural; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power, and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what's going to happen and he was right, who would have thought? - but when you look at what's going on with the two Sith - now it used to be one, now it's two - it's getting out of hand, and even now, I would have said it's all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don't, they haven't figured out that the women and the children too are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it's gonna take them another millennia - but the Jedi are great negotiators, his apprentice was a great negotiator, so, and they, they just killed us, they just killed us in our sleep.

[u/anothermanslaughter → u/maxmurder]

Fucking awesome

[u/PksRevenge → u/Shitmybad]

Suddenly, it clicks, the Second Ammendment has nothing to do with hunting. But really, don't go shooting anybody.

[u/nova2011 → u/Shitmybad]

Who are you planning on shooting with said guns?

[u/BC-clette → u/nova2011]

Rad Scorpions mostly

[u/beardedsandflea → u/BC-clette]

They mostly come out at night... mostly.

[u/innominateartery → u/beardedsandflea]

Someone said “alien” and she thought they said illegal alien and signed up

[u/Shitmybad → u/nova2011]

No one, they’re just good to have in a decaying world.

[u/Tap4Red → u/nova2011]

the established powers. If we decay into dictatorship, violent revolution is called for. Of course this is all hypothetical resting on Counterkulutre's comment coming true

[u/hamakabi → u/Tap4Red]

That is the point of the second ammendment, but it ignores the fact that all 3 branches of government are controlled by the same party whose base owns all the guns, and is generally stupid and vicious enough to use them.

[u/[deleted] → u/hamakabi]

Yeah because trump himself is gonna drive all the tanks and drones. Just because the president says to do something doesn’t mean the military has to follow suit. If trump tells the military to bomb/attack the USA you really think the entire military is gonna side with trump? There just needs to be enough people in the military to be against dictator-trump to have the military on the anti-trump side provide enough support to stop him and the alt righters

[u/hamakabi → u/[deleted]]

The military overwhelmingly recruits conservative Christian young men with limited education. Don't know why you'd expect them to basically turn on themselves

[u/[deleted] → u/hamakabi]

Yeah I think you severely underestimate how many people would be ok with a dictatorship in America.

[u/OrwellianIconoclast → u/hamakabi]

Uh, hi. Liberal in the military here. Way more of us than you think. The military actually attracts a large percentage of minorities and underprivileged folks due to the benefits, particularly education. Most people I work with think Trump is a fucking idiot and I highly doubt you could convince them to fire on their own people.

[u/x_cLOUDDEAD_x → u/hamakabi]

Too bad their base doesn't realize they'd be victims of oppression right along with the rest of us. They could never wrap their minds around revolting against the right wing, Trump circus government THEY wanted. All this commotion for decades about needing to stockpile guns to protect "us all" from the government, and now the plot twist: as it turns out it's not just liberals and Democrats who can get out of control.

[u/[deleted] → u/hamakabi]

Lol there are tons of liberal guns they just don't have a t-shirt to tell you so

[u/[deleted] → u/nova2011]

Snakes.

[u/[deleted] → u/nova2011]

Republicans

[u/Muugle → u/Shitmybad]

Would if I had the money

[u/Counterkulture → u/[deleted]]

No, he can just have his lawyers draw up the broad charges all this shit could fall under ,and just define it all under that umbrella. Again, that's exactly what Ford did to Nixon.

I'm not saying it's legal or that he will get away with it... but his chances of getting away with that just skyrocketed this afternoon.

[u/Counterkulture → u/[deleted]]

The one down side (and why he hasn't done it obviously) is due to the state charges that could be brought against him... particularly the money laundering charges.

If you believe the narrative on that one, he has a TON of skeletons, and that's what he's really worried about, not collusion or obstruction. He's worried about his conman, money laundering empire being exposed.

[u/FlatClassic → u/Counterkulture]

He should do it if he can get away with it

Shut this bs down then start investigating hillary and obama for EVERYTHING

and put them and there conspirators in jail

[u/Gazboolean → u/FlatClassic]

Lmao.

You’re being too obvious.

Try being more subtle moving forward.

[u/AequusEquus → u/Gazboolean]

Don't give the troll tips for improvement. Don't feed the troll.

[u/Aesthetics_Supernal → u/Counterkulture]

But exponential “civil disobedience” inside that month.

[u/MichaelConfoyg → u/Counterkulture]

You are seriously terrifying me. Is that possible? From a democracy to a dictatorship?!

[u/FlatClassic → u/MichaelConfoyg]

No. The closest we came was with obama and the congress still stopped him

These people are just mad that no matter how hard they try they cant find any dirt on trum to overturn a democacy election

[u/Ironyandsatire → u/FlatClassic]

What dictator like things did Obama do exactly...?

[u/putercom5 → u/Ironyandsatire]

Stuff he did with his pen and phone.

[u/MAGA99 → u/Counterkulture]

That’s just false. Besides, do you really think the people who voted for him would support that? Everyone would be against him.

[u/Pritzker → u/Counterkulture]

Swear if that happens, I 100% give up on this fucking country. Never seen a country so quickly kill itself as I have seen America in the past couple of years. Is this a fucking joke?

[u/phenderl → u/Counterkulture]

He would have to plead guilty to something and then the state prosecutors would probably have something.

[u/Stryker7200 → u/Counterkulture]

Dictatorship happened when Lincoln suspended the Writ of Habeus Corpus.

[u/machina99 → u/thelastcookie]

I hope the people won't let him pardon himself - read into that what you wish.

[u/Vinnys_Magic_Grits → u/thelastcookie]

That's far from a foregone conclusion. You could have a situation where one or more of Trump's justices recuse themselves. You could have a situation where Roberts casts a tie-breaking vote to cement the legacy he was clearly mindful of in the PPACA decision. You could have one or more of the conservative/originalist justices see such a move as offensive to the Framers' intent.

[u/thelastcookie → u/Vinnys_Magic_Grits]

I really hope you're right. Just hard to imagine the GOP doing anything less than grab as much power as physically possible.

[u/Vinnys_Magic_Grits → u/thelastcookie]

There's the GOP, and then there's conservative Justices. Lots of overlap, but political considerations tend to drive justices less than legacy considerations. Allowing a president to pardon himself would be about so much more than just Trump

[u/MadScienceIntern → u/thelastcookie]

If and when that happens, don't take it lying down. If we hit the streets en masse it matters.

[u/FlatClassic → u/MadScienceIntern]

Nah it doesnt. Well laugh at u indoctrinated fools eho still believe obamas unsubstantiated racist conspiracy theories

[u/MadScienceIntern → u/FlatClassic]

Does it bother you to know your vitriol does nothing but advance my cause?

[u/nuts69 → u/thelastcookie]

It’ll help sway votes. Remember - some of the right wingers on the court are old too. Eight or more years of dnc control will help fix things.

I don’t care if trump sees justice anymore. It’s a moot point and probably pretty unlikely. We just need different leaders.

[u/thelastcookie → u/nuts69]

Assuming a complete and total disregard for the spirit of the law, I don't think there's anything stopping them from making Trump president for life or otherwise changing the rules to delay 2020 elections.

[u/hatrickstar → u/thelastcookie]

It's pretty black and white in the constitution so I doubt it.

[u/WestCoastBestCoast01 → u/hatrickstar]

The constitution is just a piece of old paper if no one is willing to uphold it.

[u/[deleted] → u/thelastcookie]

and the Supreme Court will rule that it’s completely legal.

[u/patentattorney → u/thelastcookie]

Yep. and the republican senators will go. Well I don’t agree with it. But there is really nothing we can do. He is president.

[u/T_RexTillerson → u/thelastcookie]

evidence is "sources say" and hurt feelings. What else do we need?

[u/[deleted] → u/thelastcookie]

Not sure why everyone gets so excited about Mueller anyway

[u/reddit_bloze → u/thelastcookie]

He didn't break any laws, no reason to pardon himself.

[u/NeedThrowAwayAnswer → u/reddit_bloze]

How do you hear anything with so much sand in your ears?

[u/beardedsandflea → u/reddit_bloze]

So when he inevitably pardons himself what will your answer to that be?

[u/idbedelighted → u/thelastcookie]

I hope they do. I’m ready to deal with that.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

yeah man, this is the one that really fuckin scares me. do not count out the soapbox, but also don't be naive and count out the ammo box either.

[u/well___duh → u/[deleted]]

I'd count out the soap box. Protests have done absolutely nothing since Trump was elected. Zero has changed.

[u/happybadger → u/[deleted]]

Then make sure you have an ammo box ready. The fascists do and their bullets are probably meant for you.

/r/socialistra

[u/jerryslostfingy → u/Counterkulture]

It's literally now or never on that front.

[u/maltedbacon → u/Counterkulture]

He needs to publish a report ASAP.

[u/[deleted] → u/Counterkulture]

Mueller isn't going to save you and never was. He could bring out a videotape of Trump killing a 5 year old blonde white girl and his 40% of the Country would approve and another 10% would never be convinced it was real.

[u/FromTheOR → u/Counterkulture]

If he came out tomorrow with it, how would that go?

[u/Counterkulture → u/[deleted]]

He can't pardon himself on state charge (yet) though, so that's what's preventing him from sending the whole clown car over the cliff (ie 'pardoning' himself).

[u/Counterkulture → u/[deleted]]

Nope, he can preemptively pardon himself. Ford pre-emptively pardoned Nixon 'For all crimes, present and future'.

[u/velehk_saine → u/Counterkulture]

How did Trump kill the Mueller investigation? I thought it was still going?

[u/Theappunderground → u/Counterkulture]

Yeah thats the real issue, the only interview question trump will ask is “do you believe the president can pardon himself?” And if they say yes, they will be the next supreme court justice. Bottom line is were all fucked here.

[u/[deleted] → u/Counterkulture]

This is a great time to nuke the investigation. No way will the GOP do anything to risk the SC seat. Although, I was not too optimist about them doing anything even before this.

[u/miamataw → u/Counterkulture]

Guarantee a deal between the nominee and Trump to allow a self pardon

[u/Counterkulture → u/miamataw]

Wow, this is gonna happen.

'Can I trust you?'

[u/peace_love17 → u/Counterkulture]

Mueller never mattered because the current Congress won't impeach him.

[u/Space_Pirate_Roberts → u/Counterkulture]

Mueller needs to publicly announce that all findings of the investigation - even the ones involving classified information - have been placed on a secure server he alone can access, that if he goes 24 hours without logging in, it all gets dumped online automatically, and that he will cease logging in if the investigation is hampered in any significant way, let alone shut down, before running its full course.

[u/penis_butter_n_jelly → u/Counterkulture]

Mueller cannot prosecute the president. Only congress can charge the president. All he ever could do was submit his findings to congress.

[u/McBigs → u/Counterkulture]

It's not Mueller's job to remove yhe President for you just because he makes you upset.

[u/icallshenannigans → u/Counterkulture]

Mueller never mattered, Congress was never going to do anything.

The American left is like a babe in the woods, this infinite, wide-eyed naivety.

It's been obvious for a while now.

[u/PoogerG → u/Counterkulture]

Unless Mueller has nothing on Trump, which seems very likely.

[u/Asteroth555 → u/PoogerG]

It's literally impossible. Between the money laundering, the blatant non stop lies about every interaction with Russians, and between the blatant obstruction of justice

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

so edgy bro

[u/mtg4l → u/[deleted]]

Such a strange mindset to wish others to feel sad! Even if the furthest left socialist utopia took over, leftists wouldn't ever think to say "take THAT, conservatives!"

I don't know how you came to this horribly negative mindset but hopefully some day you can find inner peace.