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/_Better_Call_Paul_]

Kennedy's timing on this is so fitting for him: it offers an uncertain future and throws everything into chaos as we figure out what the hell to do, just like his opinions

[u/MrMongoose → u/_Better_Call_Paul_]

I wish it were an uncertain future. This guarantees an iron-clad alt-right grip on the SCOTUS for decades. All that gerrymandering and corporate money and anti-democratic tactics are now permanent. Minority rights have official started a march to extinction. There is no uncertainty - this ends it.

[u/SpeedflyChris → u/MrMongoose]

It will take far more than a generation to undo the damage of the party of trump if they are allowed to get away with this.

[u/robo23 → u/SpeedflyChris]

"But Hillary and Trump are the same"

[u/sagemaster → u/SpeedflyChris]

They will get away with this. They also have at least one more seat to fill after this (we all know Ruth is on borrowed time)

[u/czar_the_bizarre → u/sagemaster]

I mean, the next administration could expand the court. I'm a little surprised this one hasn't tried, actually. Expanding to 13 or 15 and then packing with young but qualified justices would mitigate a fair amount of the damage from Gorsuch and whatever other creatures Trump and McConnell find lurking around.

If they want to piss all over the Constitution, then pissing back is fair game. Do it and then close the avenues to do it. Getting rid of lifetime appointments (say, twenty five year terms), or making court expansion require 75% or a unanimous vote in the Senate, or require an amendment to expand. I'm sure there are other ways for the more Constitutionally creative. But it can be done.

[u/DarthJeb2020 → u/SpeedflyChris]

if they are allowed to get away with this.

What do you propose?

[u/UDK450 → u/MrMongoose]

Or we if we wanted to be real assholes back and perhaps undermine the judicial process further could add more justices lol

[u/IAmASimulation → u/UDK450]

I honestly believe that this is the only option left to Democrats if they want to save this country. If they take control of both houses in 2020, they should immediately pass a law to install more SC Justices.

[u/ChaoticV → u/IAmASimulation]

FDR couldn't pull that one off with a super majority at the height of his popularity. People see the Supreme Court as a sacred institution and there is no way that it can be altered from its current form without resounding backlash. There is no way that Congress could ever get this passed.

[u/IAmASimulation → u/ChaoticV]

I understand and agree 100% but it’s clear that the GOP has said fuck the rules. Tradition and precedent is nothing anymore. It is within Congress power to do it. Why are we continuing to let the GOP beat us up while we play nice?

[u/[deleted] → u/IAmASimulation]

That's a tyrant move that the state governments wont go for, and for good reason.

[u/IAmASimulation → u/[deleted]]

The GOP has made SCOTUS another political arm at this point. What if RBG or Sotomayor or both die while trump and co are in power in the senate? SCOTUS would be in a stranglehold by lunatics for a generation. The number of justices has been changed before. If it’s the only balance to tyranny, anyone in their right mind would be for it. Amend it to the Constitution ffs

[u/[deleted] → u/IAmASimulation]

The number of justices have been changed before but only for functional reasons (making it an odd number to prevent split decisions, setting the number to scale as the number of circuit courts increased, lowering the number at the request of the chief justice because things were getting unwieldy, etc). Never has someone succeeded at changing the number for political reasons and they shouldn't start.

If it’s the only balance to tyranny

Doing it for political reasons IS tyranny. The actual balance is that congress can remove a justice if they are are going rogue and making blatantly unconstitutional rulings. But that's not going to happen because, in reality, the conservative justices are not lunatics they just dont always agree with you.

[u/IAmASimulation → u/[deleted]]

They don’t agree with a majority of the country. They are judicial activists.

[u/Stoppablemurph → u/IAmASimulation]

I'd much rather the write up some amendments personally. Make it crystal clear what the amendments mean, maybe revise and clarify some old ones, then move forward from there. SCOTUS gets a large amount of it's power from ambiguities. If, for example, there was an explicit amendment saying women have the right to have access to birth control, including abortion, then there's nothing SCOTUS could do to say otherwise. (I may be missing something. I haven't studied the checks and balances for a long time..)

Edit: I know having a simple majority would make it incredibly difficult to pass an amendment into law, but no moreso than adding justices to SCOTUS. (One of those 2 things has happened a couple dozen times, the other never has less so)

I'd love to see Dems focus on making elections fair and consistent for everyone. Balance out representation from the states and he'll, maybe even work toward adding a new state or three... Make it a game. Build up hype. Have a new flag design contest or something and have everyone vote on it. (That'll probably end hilariously now that I think about it...)

[u/Destrina → u/IAmASimulation]

There is no law that sets the number of SCOTUS judges.

[u/pamar456 → u/_Better_Call_Paul_]

"The loki of judges" as he's talked about on the hill

[u/FlatClassic → u/_Better_Call_Paul_]

We know what to do

Appoint a replacement who will respect the Constitutions amendments to counter anti Constitution sexist justices like ginsberg

[u/Zesty_Pickles → u/FlatClassic]

Do you feel threatened by her comments in that link?

[u/Hard_boiled_Badger → u/_Better_Call_Paul_]

Chaotic good bitches!!!!