Hey there everyone. I'm happy to join my friends at SCOTUSblog this morning to try to answer questions about Justice Kennedy's retirement and other matters.
Hello everyone! Long-time reader, first-time baller. Excited to talk about the Supreme Court, Justice Kennedy's retirement, etc.
They did have a valedictory feel to them, so I cannot say I was surprised. But I also would not have been surprised if he stayed on and just felt the need to communicate what he said.
(I was talking about the concurrences. Still figuring out the "comment reply" function.
So, here are a couple of observations from the courtroom yesterday, some of which I included in yesterday's "view". The main one is that when Justice Kennedy's wife, Mary, arrived at about 9:55 am, with what appeared to be three grandchildren in the VIP box and other family members nearby, my outlook on the justice's retirement changed.
Some of my colleagues in the press section let out some expletives when we saw that. I'm not going to say who.
I was of the school that if AMK was going to retire, he would have announced it in April or May, as four of the last five justices to retire have done. Kennedy joined the court in midterm, after the Robert Bork and Douglas Ginsburg matters. He has to know that retiring at the end of the term makes it at least somewhat dicier to have a replacement confirmed by the First Monday in October.
Here's a thought about how quickly the Court is likely to move to change the law in areas where Justice Kennedy was to the left of CJ Roberts: Given the Chief Justice's concerns for the integrity and perceived integrity as a somewhat non-political institution, I would expect him to want to go somewhat slowly. However, he will not necessarily control the Court's agenda. The Rule of 4 will allow the four justices to his right (Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and whoever the new justice is) to grant cert in abortion, LGBT rights, affirmative action, death penalty, and other cases in short order. I think Roberts might have some ability to slow Alito down if Roberts really wants to, but I doubt he can slow the others.
Sorry, that comment was meant in response to Avoiding Bar Studying's question about summer cert. petitions. You're going to have to get back to bar studying soon, ABS!
EKNY, setting a specific retirement date avoids the personal limbo that some justices have faced because they said they would retire upon the confirmation of their successor.
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