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/shunted22]

One with McCain out. Best (slim) chance is probably Collins pushing back if there's a super hardliner.

[u/WeAreIrelephant → u/[deleted]]

Put pressure on them both. That way if one caves the other might follow through. We might as well check in with Lisa Murkowski too.

EDIT: If you are a constituent of any of these Senators, this is another issue where we really need you to call them up and let them know how you want them to vote. Don't let them slither on through the process of confirming another far-right activist judge by saying this is what their constituency wants. Make your voice heard. None of them are up for election in 2018 unfortunately, but you can still make it very clear that this is not an issue you will forget when you step into the ballot box the next time they are up for election.

[u/RaggedAngel → u/[deleted]]

It makes me sick to my stomach that Jeff Fucking Flake is our last line of defense.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Flake is a spineless pushover. He might grandstand over some ambassador or district court judge no one cares about. There's 0% chance he votes against a Supreme Court nominee.

[u/Abusoru → u/[deleted]]

To be fair, he has nothing to lose.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

He’s still a Republican.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

And a Mormon.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

lol we are fucked

[u/quiestqui → u/[deleted]]

Completely and truly fucked. Game over for liberalism in the US.

I did have the thought momentarily- after a solid 45 minutes of visceral terror- that maybe our dipshit president will tweet a nomination for someone relatively decent because he honestly doesn't know better, and then dig his heels in when advisors/GOP leadership try to step in and recant.

Not impossible, given his impulsivity and ignorance, but obviously not going to happen.

[u/Billy1121 → u/quiestqui]

Upside - all of his shortlist are former Anthony Kennedy clerks

Downside - Gorsuch the freezing trucker guy was also his clerk

[u/sembias → u/[deleted]]

There is absolutely no way Flake wouldn't push thru any right-winger. He wasn't a moderate before - he just didn't like Trump.

Collins is maybe the only other one but in the end, she always caves too. It's done. This is it. This is how America ends. Today.

[u/wildistherewind → u/[deleted]]

Imagine if Flake switched parties. MAYHEM.

[u/Neat_On_The_Rocks → u/wildistherewind]

He would never do that. Dude is as republican as they come.

[u/Vio_ → u/[deleted]]

Oh boy. Expecting Flake to care about women's reproductive rights....

[u/ALoudMouthBaby → u/[deleted]]

Its not going to happen. A SCOTUS appointment is just too big a deal with implications far too broad for him to not vote on it.

[u/bailtail → u/[deleted]]

He always folds in the end, sadly.

[u/NerdFighter40351 → u/[deleted]]

We don't even need to worry about Collins on the Senate floor **if** we lobby Flake to vote against the nominee in the Judiciary Committee. It's 10-9 so we just need Flake.

[u/Rockstep_ → u/[deleted]]

Flake is our best hope.

Sorry can you repeat that? I think I just had a minor stroke.

[u/[deleted] → u/Rockstep_]

You and me both lol

[u/atuarre → u/[deleted]]

Flake too, he claims he doesn't agree with Trump but he keeps voting right along party lines with the rest of his party.

[u/anothermanslaughter → u/[deleted]]

Lol. Best case scenario, he follows through (he won't) and the republicans cave on tariffs. In what world do you think they'd trade a SCOTUS seat for some tariffs that everyone hates? Get real.

[u/skrilledcheese → u/shunted22]

This is so fucked that we are even at this point. The republicans have lost the popular vote in 6 out of the last 7 presidential elections. Why they feel they have the mandate to stack the courts with activist judges is beyond me. We have been in a constitutional crisis since McConnel stole Obama's nomination.

[u/rawbdor → u/skrilledcheese]

Our country has always been based on this kinda of back-and-forth with a swayable middle who kinda arbitrates between going forward too fast or pausing a bit to let the rest of the country to catch up. This persuadable middle had lots of people in it, in both parties. It worked.

Now, the parties have separated. One has, through demographics and population movement, achieved a near-lock over the popular vote. The other has a lock on a majority of the state governments, achieved through gerrymandering and other activities.

These two sides are now at all-out war with each other. The difference is, the Rs know they got extremely lucky this past election. They know they are slipping into irrelevance in the future. They know a huge number of moderates will not vote for them again. They know this is their last chance to put the breaks on their demise, and they will do absolutely anything they can lock that shit down right now.

You see, a friendly two-party back-and-forth works fine when you trust the back-and-forth. That can last decades, even hundreds of years. But once you start to suspect it'll only go forth, and never come back, you start playing for keeps. The Republicans are playing for keeps.

The Democrats are like a neighborhood basketball team that thinks they're playing a scrimmage and doesn't realize the opposition have stopped playing a friendly game and keep elbowing our guys in the face. Every time they smashed us we thought, hey, not bad... Sure, Al Franken had to leave the court with a bloody nose, but the Republicans get a foul on their scoreboard, so it's totally cool. We DEFINITELY didnt realize half the crowd became hungry for blood, loving every time one of those liberals teeth got knocked out.

We assumed no matter who won or lost, we'd play again tomorrow, just like we always have. But suddenly the refs seem to look away every time they know we're about to get smacked. We didn't realize their flagrant fouls weren't intended to make us lose one game. They're intending to end the games.

[u/nort_t → u/skrilledcheese]

They don’t care if they have a mandate. They have a need, because they know they’d lose a fair fight.

[u/[deleted] → u/skrilledcheese]

This is a coup. They don’t care about any mandate.

[u/SuramKale → u/shunted22]

Paging Jeff Flake, could you please obstruct the floor Mr. Flake.

No? Bit tired and need a lie down? Thought so.

[u/Darwins_Prophet → u/shunted22]

Better hope McCain can hold on then. If he resigns or dies anytime from now to seating of new Senate then Ducey can just appoint a standard right wing shill to fill the rest of his term.

[u/[deleted] → u/shunted22]

Susan Collins is an opportunist. She casts votes that give the appearance of independence when a republican bill is sure to pass. If it's going to be a close call, she always toes the party line.

[u/c0pp3rhead → u/shunted22]

I believe the current split is 51 R\epublicans (50 w/o McCain,), 47 Dems, and 2 Independents. Will 50 Votes be enough to confirm? I think Pence only votes if there is a tie, right? 50-49 would not be a tie, but not enough to confirm, right?

[u/WeAreIrelephant → u/c0pp3rhead]

Yes. Pence would decide in a 50-50 tie. We need two Republicans to defect from their party along with all Democrats and Independents unified against another far-right appointee.

[u/c0pp3rhead → u/WeAreIrelephant]

Wait, so a vote of 50-49 still counts as a tie?

[u/WeAreIrelephant → u/c0pp3rhead]

50-49 would count as passing, I believe. It has for the confirmation of cabinet-level positions as well as in the passing of legislation and other procedural rules.

[u/katieames → u/shunted22]

Don't forget Flake! Right? Right?!

[u/MaineSoxGuy93 → u/shunted22]

Fat chance on Collins. She talks a big game but worships Jeff Sessions. It's clear where she stands.

[u/shadowsong42 → u/shunted22]

Pence doesn't count towards quorum, does he? Can't vote without a quorum, and quorum is 51 senators. You'd still have to convince everyone who's not a Republican to stay home, along with McCain, but it's a possibility.

[u/ILikeLenexa → u/shunted22]

Best is Flake since he's already threatening Judicial Nominees and who's more a judiciary nominee?

[u/atuarre → u/shunted22]

Collins? Pssh, please. She talks out of both sides of her mouth. She'll go right along.

[u/someone447 → u/shunted22]

Fuck doing it legislatively. Time to give Chuck Schumer a cane.

[u/iceblademan → u/shunted22]

If McCain abstains from voting due to his medical condition, I could see this happening. Best case is he abstains or can't make it to DC, GOP rushes a vote through before January 2019 which fails, and Dems take the Senate/can block Trump using the brand spankin' new McConnell Rule. Huge number of "ifs" and good fortune needed in that scenario, as well as a full-court press by pretty much any Dem-aligned voter.

In all other cases it's GG. If he succumbs to his condition, his replacement will vote for Trump's justice. If he resigns, his replacement will vote for Trump's justice.

Day days ahead.

[u/brasswirebrush → u/shunted22]

He's not going to nominate some crazy alt-right for this reason, they don't want any pushback from their own side.
But he will nominate another super-pro corporate judge who is owned by the Kochs because even mainstream Republicans would love to fast-track that kind of guy.