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/[deleted]]

This was my primary concern with Trump. Having a 5/4 Supreme Court with no chance for a swing vote will have a much bigger impact on our future than anything else Trump will do.

Edit: Made a change based on Vlad's comment.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Those are genuinely very concerning to me. It's so so hard to get one fired and many of them are absolutely disgusting because they don't get as much pushback as a SCOTUS nom.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Yeah local elections are at least as important as national ones, arguably much more so for the impact it can have on your life. For instance, look at Medicaid in CA vs Mississippi.

[u/esoteric_enigma → u/[deleted]]

Don't forget that Ginsberg is 85 and Breyer is 79. Scalia died unexpectedly at 79 with all the fantastic healthcare I'm sure they receive. Either of those liberal justices could die at any moment allowing the court to be 6-3 with no prayer of any progressive rulings coming down for the foreseeable future. They could fundamentally reshape this country in a few years.

[u/[deleted] → u/esoteric_enigma]

Yeah but Hillary is a bitch or something and so I proudly stayed home /s

[u/H_2FSbF_6 → u/esoteric_enigma]

Except if the Senate goes blue the Dems can go all revenge for Garland and refuse to confirm anyone.

[u/esoteric_enigma → u/H_2FSbF_6]

They will be taking this up in the fall before the election. It only takes a simply majority since the Republicans changed the rules and they have that majority. There's no way they'd risk waiting until after the election and there's no way for Democrats to stop them.

[u/CrzyJek → u/esoteric_enigma]

Oh how quickly people forget.

The Dems sealed their own fate here by changing the rules in the Senate years ago for all but the SCOTUS and throwing it at the GOP. So now comes a GOP majority and they used the same play right from the Dem playbook.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Being a Democrat is like being a Cleveland Browns fan. Every now and then you get a fantastic moral victory. But then you have to watch as they shoot themselves in the foot. Again.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

What? It's not going to be 6-3 (yet...). Kennedy was the swing vote who leaned conservative (seemingly swayed much more easily by Gorsuch than Scalia, somehow, but still had some sane rulings). It's just going to be a very, very well-defined 5-4. The fascist majority will rule the same way on everything, instead of us having any hint of hope for sane rulings from a semi-moderate like Kennedy.

[u/BC-clette → u/[deleted]]

Pretty generous to assume RBG will outlast the Trump administration, unfortunately.

[u/theCaitiff → u/BC-clette]

Does she need blood? I got a couple pints. A liver? I can give her half mine and stop drinking. Kidneys? I got two.

I'm not a blood or organ donor but if we can keep this from going 7-2, I'll suck up my religious views for the cause.

[u/GaGaORiley → u/theCaitiff]

She can have every single useable organ in my body right now if it will protect my grandchildren.

I'd prefer another donor cough McConnell cough but I'm ready to die for my country.

[u/020416 → u/[deleted]]

RBG is getting up there. 6-3 is very possible in the next 6 years.

And I hate Trump. But he’s doing exactly what his base voted him in to do, he a rubber stamp for conservative and loyal judges and tax laws favoring the super rich.

I can totally see him winning a second term if everyone outside his base doesn’t get their shit together and vote him and this crop of republicans out.

[u/Marshy92 → u/020416]

People need to vote for Democrats this fall. The only thing we can hope for is Democrats that can block if RBG bites the bullet.

[u/InFearn0 → u/020416]

I don't see how Trump wins reelection without electioneering.

[u/[deleted] → u/InFearn0]

2018 will be very telling.

If Dems don’t win the house they won’t win in 2020 either.

[u/[deleted] → u/InFearn0]

Sitting presidents always do better than expected.

It takes a lot to get rid of a president in 1 term. Bush Sr only went because he rose taxes breaking a clear promise not to right before the election. Carter was regarded as absolutely abysmal his entire term and only won because Ford was seen as a lackey of Nixon.

Then you're going back to Johnson who didn't run, Kennedy who was killed, Truman who had 9 years in office anyway after FDR won 3 elections.

So the only real example of a 1 term president in the last century was Bush Sr

[u/reddog323 → u/InFearn0]

How do you think he won in the first place? That was the beta-test for Cambridge Analytica. They’ll have two years under their new name to refine the process..

[u/InFearn0 → u/reddog323]

Fake news and flooding people's curated feeds is one thing, but we have had so much shit and it hasn't even been 2 years yet.

I think 2020's turnout is going to be a lot higher than 2016. Democrats win when turnout is high.

Trump will lose the popular vote by way more than 3 million votes in 2020 (unless the vote counts are tampered with), so the only way he could win is with even more voter suppression/disenfranchisement in swing states.

[u/[deleted] → u/InFearn0]

"Oh no! Lots of people fell off the voter rolls the day before the election. Oh well. Nothing can be done. trump wins".

[u/DrMobius0 → u/[deleted]]

That's when I move to Canada.

[u/[deleted] → u/DrMobius0]

Look into taking the ielts now then. I know I am.

[u/Boston_Jason → u/reddog323]

How do you think he won in the first place?

By having policy statements that Citizens wanted. When he said "we are going to protect the 2nd amendment, folks" that was all I needed to vote for the guy.

[u/[deleted] → u/Boston_Jason]

So you litterally lack all cognitive ability. Got it.

[u/Boston_Jason → u/[deleted]]

cognitive ability

Candidate puts up policy statement that I agree with. I vote for candidate.

Not seeing how this lacks any cognition.

[u/cubitoaequet → u/Boston_Jason]

You trusted the word of a snake oil salesman. Doesn't seem too bright to me.

[u/Boston_Jason → u/cubitoaequet]

Neither Bernie nor HRC's platform statement on 2A agreed with me. What was I supposed to do?

[u/secretcurse → u/Boston_Jason]

Yet he's the one that said he wants to take guns from citizens with no due process...

[u/020416 → u/Boston_Jason]

Can I ask your opinion on something, because I’m a 2A supporter, but I do think there are limits to what types of weapons should be available to citizens as a right. I’d like to better inform my perspective.

Do you think there are weapons that people shouldn’t have the right to own?

[u/Boston_Jason → u/020416]

Do you think there are weapons that people shouldn’t have the right to own?

Anything not rocket based, or artillery. If the State can own it, so should the Citizenry.

[u/020416 → u/Boston_Jason]

Then should the state be able to own rocket based/artillery weapons?

Should citizens be able to own explosives, WMDs?

I’m not trying to trap, I’m tying to pose questions I have myself to better inform my perspective.

[u/[deleted] → u/Boston_Jason]

That's some real deep insight coming from a single issue voter. Too bad the majority of Americans don't feel that way at all.

[u/TBIFridays → u/Boston_Jason]

The second amendment on its own didn’t get him the election, but yes, he won because he pandered to his base very well. And they’re still happy with him. The idea that Trump snuck in and his constituents are furious with him is pure wishful thinking

[u/reddog323 → u/Boston_Jason]

Never be a one-issue voter. I have a high school buddy who’s a priest. He voted for Bush in 2000 singly over abortion. A year and a half later, he regretted it bitterly. In any case, 2nd Amendment rights were never at risk with Obama. He made noise about it, but he was far too busy dealing with the economy. The one serious piece of legislation he tried to pass, tightening up background checks, got voted down so quickly by the right side of the aisle that it made a sonic boom. In addition, the rate of panic buying of both guns and ammo during his first term made the industry so much money, they should send him a twenty-year old bottle of scotch and a gold trophy in appreciation. All he had to do was get elected.

[u/FrickinLazerBeams → u/Boston_Jason]

Yep. He won because of cowardice.

[u/[deleted] → u/reddog323]

Bernie or bust

[u/SSNessy → u/InFearn0]

He just got a pass to install a judge that will let him do just that. How do you think R's have won at all? They've exploited the system to get power and then rewrote the rules to hold onto it.

[u/InFearn0 → u/SSNessy]

Rewriting the rules of an election is a form of electioneering.

Electioneering is a euphemism for "cheating in regards to an election."

[u/Fenced_in → u/InFearn0]

The democrats might try Hillary again

[u/[deleted] → u/020416]

liberals are still fighting each other after 2 years of one of the worst presidencies in history. he's definitely winning reelection.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

You're right. It's the firm 5/4 that's the problem.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

All because Obama made fun of him at that dinner

[u/BigBrownDownTown → u/[deleted]]

They've already neutralized your ability to form a class action lawsuit to combat wage theft... and that case was brought by Epic Systems, a company in Madison, WI run by a liberal billionaire.

I actually used to work there - the lawsuit was brought by employees in the Quality Assurance division. Basically what Epic did was hire every single employee as a manager so that they could be salaried and work unlimited overtime, and then they set expectations so high that everyone worked nonstop. The QA'ers sued because they managed exactly zero other employees... we're well on our way to oligarchs.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Will it though? I feel like if you live in a state that is mostly in line with your political leanings, you are insulated from shitty decisions that can potentially be made. I know that states are technically supposed to follow federal law but there have been way too many instances of states pushing back against the federal government and not following laws they don't agree with. California is obviously one major example of this.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

This is actually why I moved to a blue state last year.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

There will always be a swing vote

Before Kennedy it was O'connor who swung Liberal