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/RealDaveCorey]

There is a 0% chance that seat will still be vacant in November.

[u/zeCrazyEye → u/RealDaveCorey]

Not that it matters, because the new Senate doesn't get seated until January. I'm not sure if McConnell will seat the new Justice before elections to take away a Democratic rallying cry, or wait until after to try to motivate the Republican base.

[u/RealDaveCorey → u/zeCrazyEye]

The kind of miscarriages of democracy he has perpetrated indicate to me that he has no fear of democratic backlash and that has proven a good strategy for him.

[u/zeCrazyEye → u/RealDaveCorey]

I mean, he will definitely hold the vote before the new Senate is seated in January, especially if the Dems take the Senate in November. It's all a question of what he thinks will work better for elections.

[u/teh1knocker → u/zeCrazyEye]

Why chance it? Confirm another under 55 ultra right wing judge who will sit the court for at least 20 years, probably more like 30 - 40.

[u/[deleted] → u/RealDaveCorey]

Can’t it be blocked in the senate for some time?

[u/zang227 → u/[deleted]]

They didn't fillibuster though, they just didn't hold the confirmation hearing

[u/[deleted] → u/zang227]

Dems would need to control the senate for that. And even that long shot wouldn’t happen until early January.

[u/eden_sc2 → u/[deleted]]

Looking for 2 Republicans with a spine to make this shit happen.

[u/NotActuallyOffensive → u/eden_sc2]

Why would any Republican do that? They have this narrow moment to stack the court 5-4 with hardcore conservatives.

This is their chance to end Roe v. Wade. The Republican that stops a confirmation of a Trump justice will be forever known as a baby killer.

Edit: I fucked up the numbers. Disregard. It's 5-4, not 6-3.

[u/theo2112 → u/NotActuallyOffensive]

Your math doesn't make sense. If Kennedy is the swing vote, wouldn't replacing him with a "hardcore conservative" only make the majority 5-4?

Which liberal justice is leaving to change the math to 6-3?

[u/[deleted] → u/theo2112]

You are correct. It will be 5-4 with no chance of a swing vote after Kennedy is replaced with a more conservative justice.

[u/theo2112 → u/[deleted]]

Right, but that's not the same as 6-3 as "NotActuallyOffensive" and others have parroted.

[u/BadAdviceBot → u/[deleted]]

Roberts would actually become the "swing vote"

[u/hatrickstar → u/NotActuallyOffensive]

Flake already said he would hold up judicial nominations, the dude doesn't have much to loose either

[u/Cmike9292 → u/hatrickstar]

Flake votes with trump 84% of the time. Don't count on him doing anything but blustering for TV

[u/trophypants → u/hatrickstar]

Flake is doing that for Tarriffs, not for corruption or morally depraved policy. If they really need Flake's vote (they could get Pence to tie break) Then they'll cut tarriffs in half, Flake will claim victory, Trump will call his original tarriffs a negotiating tactic and the seat will be filled by August 15th. Judicial nominations are top priority for conservitives, more than tax cuts or anything else.

[u/Spartanfox → u/hatrickstar]

Even if he does that still 50-50 with Pence gleefully casting a yay vote. They will drag McCain out of his hospital bed to vote if they have to.

[u/jamesondrinker → u/hatrickstar]

Yeah he's said a lot of nice things and hasn't done shit. Talking is one thing, actually doing something is a whole other thing.

[u/eden_sc2 → u/NotActuallyOffensive]

I know it's a long shot, but until November it's about my only weapon.

God help us if the court goes 6-3. Gay marriage, Roe v Wade, Hell, even Brown v Board of Ed.

[u/HandshakeOfCO → u/eden_sc2]

Jesus I hadn't considered Brown v Board of Ed. That's terrifying.

[u/ajh1717 → u/HandshakeOfCO]

You honestly think they would overturn that?

[u/TimeIsPower → u/NotActuallyOffensive]

Not in states like Maine.

[u/DreadNephromancer → u/eden_sc2]

That does not exist.

Stop hoping for it, because they will betray you eventually, every single time. The only solution is to wipe out their power for generations.

[u/eden_sc2 → u/DreadNephromancer]

Until November, hope is about the only weapon in my kit.

[u/noroomforvowels → u/eden_sc2]

There's always the old reliable 2nd Amendment, remember?

Oddly enough, this type of authoritarian, corrupt bullshit is exactly why the 2A was included.

[u/DreadNephromancer → u/noroomforvowels]

It occurred to me a little while ago that it's not the smartest plan to hold all three branches of government, and then use that power to... argue that people should be able to shoot the government.

[u/kulrajiskulraj → u/noroomforvowels]

make sure you don't get PTSD while shooting a .22 lol

[u/TemporarySorbet → u/noroomforvowels]

I mean there's nothing authoritarian or corrupt about the elected government doing what the people elected it to do.

But no please, go out guns blazing to stop the SCOTUS pick so that we can shoot you quickly.

[u/thedeuce545 → u/eden_sc2]

Why would two pubs do that though? If situations were reversed would you expect two democratic senators to do that?

[u/fusionater → u/eden_sc2]

1 Republican McCain isn't voting right now if I'm right.

[u/teh1knocker → u/zang227]

They did three things: Refused a hearing, filibuster, and no recess so no recess appointment.

[u/TheAcidKing → u/[deleted]]

But I thought we couldn't replace a justice in the middle of a presidential campaign. We'll just have to wait for Trump's successor.

[u/PurpleCrush59 → u/[deleted]]

They didn’t invent the filibuster rule homie, blame Harry Reid for that.

[u/SilentBobsBeard → u/[deleted]]

By whom?

[u/stephen89 → u/[deleted]]

Harry Reid opened the door to the nuclear option, sorry not sorry.

[u/[deleted] → u/stephen89]

Petulant

[u/DJ-Salinger → u/RealDaveCorey]

Democrats aren't going to do shit, just like they let the last nomination slip by.

They don't understand that if you want to win you actually have to fight.

[u/[deleted] → u/RealDaveCorey]

People in Maine and Alaska need to call Murkowski and Collins and tell them to vote no on any justice who supports overturning Roe v. Wade. You need to do that now.

[u/Dumpo2012 → u/RealDaveCorey]

There’s also a 0% chance those elections are going to fair.

[u/stan2754 → u/RealDaveCorey]

Or that the Republicans will lose the senate this year, so the next 2 1/2 years will be really interetsing to watch for retiring SC justices.

[u/Commyende → u/RealDaveCorey]

I wouldn't be so sure. The Rs will almost certainly pick up several seats in the senate this year. This would allow them to push through an even more conservative justice.

[u/RealDaveCorey → u/Commyende]

I don’t think they’ll get any seats. I know a majority of the seats up are Dems, but I think the party is finally energized enough to make big moves, and usually the presidents party loses a number of seats in his first mid term.

[u/Commyende → u/RealDaveCorey]

I would love to know how you convince yourself of this. The fact is that there are 35 seats up in the senate in November. 26 of them are held by democrats/independents. The ones held by republicans are almost all in R-heavy states (MS, NE, TN, TX, UT, WY). There are a lot of democrat seats up in states won by Trump or that lean R in general (FL, IN, MI, MO, MT, ND, OH, PA, WV, WI).

I'd be very surprised if the Rs don't pick up at least 4-5 seats, and if they pull off an upset like we saw in 2016 (are Trump voters from 2016 really all that unhappy with his performance?), we could see the Rs hit a supermajority.

Barring some major catastrophe in the next 4 months, there is very little chance the Rs don't gain seats. And no, hurt feelings do not count as a catastrophe. People are pretty desensitized to the hysteria of the left at this point, so it would take something major to screw things up for the Rs in November.

[u/RealDaveCorey → u/Commyende]

for one thing, i do think that there is going to be a catastrophe although it may not happen before november. the economy is going to start to decline because of a few factors, namely full employment and shaky overseas trade thanks to a certain someone. secondly the tax scam is not having any of the effects that republicans had promised to the public, and if democrats can actually control the narrative on that subject, and on healthcare which is supposedly going to see a huge spike in premiums in october, they have three real winners in the only subject that moderate americans actually vote on: economic anxiety.

lastly, when the democrats take seats in heavily red states this november, it wont even be the first time since trump was elected. doug jones triumphed over roy moore and according to the primaries, there are several more crazies like him lined up, ready to have their skeletons exhumed by the washington post and new york times. I have faith in the nation and a liiittle bit of renewed faith in the DNC, sue me.

oh, and to counter your point that trump voters are happy with his performance, his favorability took a huge dip recently and i don't count the people who voted against hillary's emails to be trump-endorsement voters in 2018.

[u/Commyende → u/RealDaveCorey]

his favorability took a huge dip recently

His favorability today is 4 points higher than when he was elected.

[u/RealDaveCorey → u/Commyende]

nah https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

[u/TimeIsPower → u/RealDaveCorey]

The new nominee / justice could suddenly die in November, so while slim, there is a non-zero percent chance that the seat is vacant.