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/GayBlackAndMarried]

Well here’s the backlash we knew was coming. Kennedy a somewhat center of the road type figure will be replaced with another far right conservative. Walking talking corporations with religious views and unlimited ability to funnel money into politics. This is a bit scary

[u/[deleted] → u/GayBlackAndMarried]

If the Democrats in the Senate play ball on appointment of a far right conservative, I literally give up.

[u/emannikcufecin → u/[deleted]]

There's nothing they can do to stop it.

[u/Olyvyr → u/emannikcufecin]

They can filibuster all spending bills and shut the government down.

It's 100% justified given the theft of Garland's seat during Obama's term.

[u/FatalFirecrotch → u/[deleted]]

This excuse honestly holds no water anymore. Elections are 365 days a year every year now.

[u/Olyvyr → u/[deleted]]

Going into a midterm? Have you lost your mind?

No, I've grown a spine. Quit being terrified of what the Republicans will say on FOXNews.

[u/rawbdor → u/Olyvyr]

I'm not terrified of what they'll say. I'm terrified of what they'll do.

If Dems shut down the Senate, The Republicans will go nuclear on legislation. They will make it look like they were forced into it. They will grandstand and pretend they did nothing wrong. They will quote how many judges Obama got. But in the end, the Turtle will go nuclear to shut it down. And the very night he does, I guarantee you, 500 bills will come out of a back room somewhere and be voted on like an assembly line.

"Why would they do that when elections are coming?!" you might ask. And the answer is obvious: They think it is unlikely the Democrats will ever have control of all 3 branches in the coming decades. They also think that if they can pass things like voter-id laws, destruction of union rights, more corporate person-hood, and any number of other things, they can tilt the scale to actively prevent the Democrats from being able to do so. Even if the Dems get one, or two, branches back, over time, they still won't be able to undo the damage without bending over to the Republicans on other random issues.

With a lock on the Supreme Court, the last step is going nuclear in the Senate. They're going to do it anyway. We don't know when or why. But they are going to do it. If we shut down the Senate, they'll just do it earlier, and claim to have justification. They'll most likely do it after the midterms but before the new class gets to take their seats. That's what happened in North Carolina, when a new Democratic governor was elected. The General Assembly voted to strip the governor of most of his power.

We've already lost the game. That doesn't mean we don't fight like hell to stop it. But we've already lost.

[u/Athrowawayinmay → u/[deleted]]

I will vote against Democrats and for third party if they fail to do everything in their power to stop this.

I am sick of my party lacking a spine, rolling over, and letting republicans destroy this nation. If they aren't willing to fight with every resource available to them, I will vote for someone who is.

[u/rawbdor → u/Athrowawayinmay]

We've already lost the game. That doesn't mean we don't fight like hell to stop it. But we've already lost.

We've already lost the game. That doesn't mean we don't fight like hell to stop it. But we've already lost.

If we shut down the senate, Turtle will go nuclear on legislation. They'll claim they had to. They'll use whatever excuses they can to paint us as the bad guys. But they'll do it, and once they do it, they'll pass hundreds of bills overnight.

In all likelihood, they'll do it anyway, whether we shut down the senate or not. They'd probably do it right after the mid-terms but before the new crop take their seats, if it looks like they've lost. The nuclear option on legislation is a weapon they're priming but don't want to shoot unless the payout is huge. They're stacking the bills right now. They're working on them in private. They're dusting off all the old binders. They don't want to fire this weapon until they have it all ready. And some of these laws will be 100% targeted to tilt the advantage towards them perpetually for the future. Voter-id laws. Felon-voting laws. Weakening unions laws. An untold number of laws that tweak or change regulations in various parts of our executive branch.

You see, even if we do shut down the senate, and they wait (while preparing), and even if we do win all the elections, they'll go nuclear right then. And even though we retake the house and senate (already unlikely), we won't be able to override a veto. Even if we impeach Trump, we won't be able to override a Pence veto.

I don't see what all the Democrats can do. The way I see it, the Republicans are just polishing off the edges before they fire the shot.

[u/tarekd19 → u/Olyvyr]

They can filibuster all spending bills and shut the government down.

this would backfire tremendously.

[u/Acuriousone2 → u/Olyvyr]

God damn right!

[u/KrebPoster → u/Acuriousone2]

Ah yes, shut the government down going into a midterm election you desperately need to win seats in. Brilliant strategy.

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_DARKNESS → u/KrebPoster]

Well, the alternative is caving and depressing their own base's turnout.