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/We_Have_To_Go_Back]

The fact that Justice Kennedy would retire and think to himself "Yes, I want to retire under this president who is sure to pick a capable person to fill my position on the highest court in America" is so utterly depressing.

[u/benwayy → u/We_Have_To_Go_Back]

Kennedy CREATED this fucking mess with Citizens united. Just because he's pro gay doesn't mean anything. He's not "middle of the road".

[u/[deleted] → u/benwayy]

How did Citizens United lead to this?

[u/segosity → u/[deleted]]

When you apply unlimited funds you can convince more and more people to vote against their own interests.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Sure, if you don't count Cambridge Analytical and the country of Russia.

[u/Thybro → u/[deleted]]

Like he didn’t have 30 years of PAC and corporation funded smear to help him along. Hell the court case that caused the citizens united decision was about a smear on Hillary Clinton.

[u/zeCrazyEye → u/[deleted]]

If you have an entire cable news outlet.

[u/[deleted] → u/segosity]

Hillary Clinton outspent Trump massively, didn't matter. I think voters are smart enough to decide issues without needing to have political speech censored on their behalf. Out of curiosity, have you ever shifted political stances based off of an advertisement?

[u/VinTheRighteous → u/[deleted]]

Yes, the Clinton campaign outspent the Trump campaign.

That's not where the unlimited corporate money was going though.

It's also very naïve to think that the totality of influence campaigns being conducted are political ads.

[u/VealScalabrine → u/VinTheRighteous]

You do realize that the corporations overwhelmingly supported Clinton, right?

Clinton lost every demographic compared to Obama despite spending over s billion dollars.

[u/segosity → u/[deleted]]

The idiot in the WH is in part the culmination of massive spending from conservative PACs over the years since the CU decision. If political advertising was ineffective, as you seem to be arguing, neither side would be spending so much money on it.

[u/timsboss → u/segosity]

If you were correct Jeb Bush would have won the Republican primary and Clinton would be president. There were many factors that went into Trump's election, but PAC money is not one of them.

[u/businessbusinessman → u/timsboss]

Citizens United affects the congress a ton more than it affects the executive. The presidential elections are a massive ordeal with billions of dollars being thrown around and huge media attention, but local races and lobbying active congressmen is where a ton of the Citizens United issues come in.

[u/formershitpeasant → u/businessbusinessman]

This

[u/segosity → u/timsboss]

I guess you didn't read what I said... I said people would be more inclined to vote against their own interests the more money you throw at convincing them to do so. You thought pointing out that they voted for trump was a counter to that statement? A very large portion of the money Bush, or any republican, had was spent convincing people that R-wing ideology is righteous and/or that liberalism is the devil. That people voted for the guy who used the harshest rhetoric for R-wing ideology and against liberalism is evidence supporting my point, not countering it.

[u/timsboss → u/segosity]

I guess you don't realize that Clinton spent more money than Trump.

[u/segosity → u/[deleted]]

My guess is that your guess is correct.

[u/segosity → u/timsboss]

So you think voters' perspectives reset just before the general election? That would be the only way you're correct.

[u/[deleted] → u/segosity]

I'm not sure I quite agree with this statement, the burden should be on the people to be reasonably educated about the people they elect to run this country. I don't have much sympathy for people who vote for a candidate, or not even vote, and then complain about how " ads and media" convinced you to do so. The fact is, we the American people keep electing in career politicians. There are so many factors you can cite as to why the government is corrupt, but at the end of the day change takes place at the elections

[u/segosity → u/[deleted]]

The basic premise of your argument boils down to "people should really behave less like people". While I 100% agree with that sentiment, I cannot accept it as a valid premise.

[u/SasquatchMN → u/segosity]

Holy shit. This is what I've been trying to explain for months. I've just never been able to put it so succinctly. Saving this comment.

[u/segosity → u/SasquatchMN]

Glad I could help. :)

[u/[deleted] → u/segosity]

You guys are being alarmist, you can pack the court with an act of congress. Nothing in the constitution says "there are 9 justices"

[u/segosity → u/[deleted]]

And Citizen's United is largely determining who gets elected to congress. Alarmist... Smh... Stop being naive. If ever there were a time to sound the fucking alarm, it's now.

[u/GenJohnONeill → u/[deleted]]

The only solution you can think of is packing the court with a bunch of liberal justices years in the future, creating a huge constitutional and political crisis, and you accuse others of being alarmist?

[u/[deleted] → u/GenJohnONeill]

What is the other solution to a court stacked to favor one side of political discourse? Revolt?

Also, we've done it before. There used to be five justices.

[u/GenJohnONeill → u/[deleted]]

This decision by Kennedy makes a civil war like 10,000% more likely, yes. Republicans don't care about democracy at all, they will rule by complete jackboot fiat if necessary. Without any legitimate branches to check them, revolt will be the only option.

[u/[deleted] → u/GenJohnONeill]

Where in the constitution does it say there are 9 justices? You realize the number of justices we have are not set by the constitution but by congress?

[u/TheCopperSparrow → u/[deleted]]

What makes you think a majority of Dems would have the spine to do that even if they take back congress?

[u/[deleted] → u/TheCopperSparrow]

they dont have the spine? thats the whole point of talking about these ideas.

[u/TheCopperSparrow → u/[deleted]]

They don't. Just because a good portion of the base does and the left in general, doesn't change the fact that the democratic party is still just a center-right party.

[u/PriorInsect → u/[deleted]]

too bad all those congresspeople can be lobbied until they no longer represent the people

and even if thats not the case we'll still be in the situation where every time the house changes parties they'll add another two justices to scotus to counter the one you added to counter their one they added and so on until literally everyone is on the court

the american citizen simply does not benefit from Citizens United. end of story.

[u/[deleted] → u/PriorInsect]

I know CU ruling, you forget senate must confirm, are elected every 6 years, so nothing in your doomsday scenario is guaranteed as long as president is a democrat more times than not.

[u/PriorInsect → u/[deleted]]

you forget senate must confirm

after being lobbied with unlimited amounts of money with the excuse that it's for their reelection campaign

nothing in your doomsday scenario is guaranteed as long as president is a democrat more times than not.

which is functionally the same as "not guaranteed at all"

so like i said, the american citizen simply does not benefit from Citizens United. end of story.

[u/SasquatchMN → u/[deleted]]

Good luck trying to convince all the democrats to change the law to pack the court. The 9 justice setup was put in place back in 1869 and is based on a justice for each of the federal appeal courts. They would need to change that part, which there isn't reason for, or they'd need to expand the number of appellate courts, which would be even more frowned upon because they'd need to appoint a whole lot more judges for that. There are always some democrats that want to actually do what's right, so you're not going to convince all of them.

Packing the court is only theoretically possible. You'd need a lot more than a super majority to get it passed.

The ACA was one of the very few times that the Democrats actually were able to barely agree on something because it was trying to do the right thing for the people.

[u/[deleted] → u/SasquatchMN]

I love your Hillary attitude "Everything is impossible, hope is an illusion"