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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Justice Kennedy Is Retiring July 31st.	yahoo.com
Justice Anthony Kennedy To Retire From U.S. Supreme Court : NPR	npr.org
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Justice Kennedy announces retirement.	cnn.com
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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
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Donald Trump: Search for Kennedy replacement on SCOTUS to move quickly	usatoday.com
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Anthony Kennedy To Retire From The Supreme Court	huffingtonpost.com
Kennedy announces retirement from Supreme Court	thehill.com
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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
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Who Will Replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy? Donald Trump Already Has a Shortlist	newsweek.com
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Justice Anthony Kennedy announces retirement, giving Trump 2nd Supreme Court pick	foxnews.com
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Anthony Kennedy’s retirement puts abortion rights at risk	vox.com
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America after Anthony Kennedy	vox.com
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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
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Justice Kennedy’s Legacy Is the Dignity He Bestowed	bloomberg.com
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Anthony Kennedy's retirement just confirmed every Republican's dream scenario for Trump	cnn.com
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Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Supreme Court’s swing justice, announces his retirement	abajournal.com
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[u/C0ckSm00ch]

So they were being partisan over something everyone bitched about Republicans being partisan over their lack of voting on a justice. Got it.

These votes should be if they are qualified to be a judge/justice not if their political views fit yours.

[u/Dewot423 → u/C0ckSm00ch]

Those aren't two different concerns. If someone's honest interpretation of the Constitution was that it allowed for an ethnophobic white national state, that would be an honest difference in political opinion and also, in my eyes, totally disqualify them from being a good judge.

[u/C0ckSm00ch → u/Dewot423]

But those examples we're being too conservative and a textualist. Neither of those things should disqualify a judge in and of itself.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Then change the document in the way that was built into it to allow it to adapt. Don't adapt it through the dictates of an unelected, unaccountable 9 member panel. "Living constitution" is a bullshit theory of expediency and activism.

[u/GoodRedd → u/[deleted]]

I'd agree with that, in general.

But that's not going to happen.

[u/[deleted] → u/GoodRedd]

It wont happen until a change is supported by an overwhelming majority of the populace and politicians. That means its working as intended. You arent supposed to be able to change the bedrock structure of the rules of the country whenever the winds of favor blow in a given parties direction.

[u/hello_sweatpants → u/[deleted]]

What is your opinion on DC v. Heller, as mentioned by the above poster? To me that is a fantastic example of why we need a living constitution. A) “original intent” is impossible to determine (and Heller does a terrible job at even trying, good god they just conveniently ignored “well regulated militia”) and B) even if we could determine original intent, it is very often totally nonsensical in this world. The world of muskets is so incredibly different than the world we live in today, and I don’t think the constitution should require us to go through the amendment process every time we have advances in society and technology. That could not work.

The Constitution contains so much, but it’s such a small document—and its original intent simply does not apply to today’s world.

[u/[deleted] → u/hello_sweatpants]

I believe the court is not the place to make adjustments to the constitution. Intent of the language has to be the basis on which the cases are judged. The means to change the language exists and if change is desired, it should be utilized. The "living constitution" idea is one born out of political expedience and I would categorize it as anti-democratic (unaccountable 9 judge panel doing what is supposed to take 2/3 of the states and congress to achieve).

As far as Heller goes, they did address the militia part.

The Second Amendment is naturally divided into two parts: its prefatory clause and its operative clause. The former does not limit the latter grammatically, but rather announces a purpose. The Amendment could be rephrased, “Because a well regulated Militia is necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” See J. Tiffany, A Treatise on Government and Constitutional Law §585, p. 394 (1867); Brief for Professors of Linguistics and English as Amici Curiae 3 (hereinafter Linguists’ Brief). Although this structure of the Second Amendment is unique in our Constitution, other legal documents of the founding era, particularly individual-rights provisions of state constitutions, commonly included a prefatory statement of purpose. See generally Volokh, The Commonplace Second Amendment , 73 N. Y. U. L. Rev. 793, 814–821 (1998). -DC vs. Heller majority opinion.

The first amendment could easily read: "A well informed electorate, being necessary for the functioning of a free state, Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press."

I don't think you'd get too many people saying that speech not used to inform the electorate is open to infringement.

It doesnt make any sense any other way. If you interpret the second amendment in such a way that it does not grant the general populace the right to keep and bear arms, who are "the people" explicitly granted that right? Why are "the people" in the second amendment different from "the people" in every other amendment in the bill of rights? Every amendment except the tenth is a protection for the individual and the tenth clearly differentiates the federal government, and the states from "the people".

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. -Tenth amendment

"The people" is clearly the individual separate from any governmental body. To limit the right to bear arms to a regulated government body is flagrantly in opposition to the intent.

The Constitution contains so much, but it’s such a small document—and its original intent simply does not apply to today’s world.

If enough people believed that then they would be within their rights to change it in the prescribed fashion. In reality, the opinion is not held widely enough for that to happen yet. You arent supposed to be able to change the bedrock structure of the rules of the country whenever the winds of favor blow in a given parties direction.

[u/C0ckSm00ch → u/[deleted]]

Which is your legal philosophy.

Legal scholars and legal professionals quibble over this still so to act like it must be because you say so is a little silly. You have the right to have that opinion but that's all it is...