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Swing Time: Anthony Kennedy is the new Sandra Day O'Connor.
Slate ^ | 01/18/2006 | Dahlia Lithwick

Posted on 01/18/2006 9:59:57 AM PST by SirLinksalot

Anthony Kennedy—the new Sandra Day O'Connor.

Lost in last week's cacophony about the critical role of Sandra Day O'Connor as sole and exclusive swing voter on the U.S. Supreme Court was any sign of respect for the other sole and exclusive swing voter on the U.S. Supreme Court: Anthony M. Kennedy. Kennedy's majority opinion in today's big physician-assisted-suicide case serves as the perfect reminder of who's going to call the shots in the near future.

The 6-3 opinion in Gonzales v. Oregon—a decision upholding Oregon's physician-assisted-suicide law from attack by the Attorney General's Office—sharply outlines the court's Anthony Kennedy-shaped future. The dissenters are Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and—not surprisingly—Chief Justice John Roberts. In the majority you'll find the court's usual moderate-to-liberal lineup: John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter, and Stephen Breyer. The other two votes for Oregon thus come from the "swingers": O'Connor, who will (barring some stunning revelation that he dances for money in women's lingerie) soon be replaced by Samuel Alito, and Kennedy. In other words, this opinion was Kennedy's latest big chance to swing for the bleachers, and swing he does.

While it's true that O'Connor has tended to vote with the majority more frequently than Kennedy, and that she has done so in some big 5-4 decisions, it's also true that in other extremely contentious areas, it is Kennedy, not O'Connor, who has swung the court leftward. It was Kennedy who weighed in with the broad rationale of the court's liberals on a key gay-rights case; Kennedy who voted with the court's liberals to strike down the death penalty for juveniles and the mentally disabled; and Kennedy who has joined with O'Connor (and David Souter) to reaffirm the basic right of a woman to have an abortion.

(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: anthonykennedy; sandradayoconnor; scotus; swing; swingers; swingvote
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1 posted on 01/18/2006 10:00:01 AM PST by SirLinksalot
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To: SirLinksalot

He has been for the last few years, see Raich and Kelo.


2 posted on 01/18/2006 10:02:15 AM PST by NeoCaveman (Dems lied, Alito's wife cried - official slogan of Alitsts for Alito)
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To: SirLinksalot

Kennedy right now is the most powerful person in this country by far.

I hate Kennedy but Delay wasn't smart calling for his impeachment when Kennedy will be deciding the texas redistricting case.


3 posted on 01/18/2006 10:02:51 AM PST by johnmecainrino
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To: SirLinksalot
Slipping Kool Aid in his drink.


4 posted on 01/18/2006 10:02:57 AM PST by bmwcyle (As the left takes to the streets the too many lazy Freeper sleep)
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To: SirLinksalot

Stevens needs to go.


5 posted on 01/18/2006 10:03:14 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It!)
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To: SirLinksalot

It wasn't lost on me.

Kennedy is normally reliable, but not always. We'll have to live with that. The Supreme Court won't be a surefire lock on every case until we replace either Ginsburg or Stevens.


6 posted on 01/18/2006 10:04:57 AM PST by Dog Gone
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To: SirLinksalot
Looks like Slate agrees with me.

See here

7 posted on 01/18/2006 10:05:32 AM PST by PISANO (We will not tire......We will not falter.......We will NOT FAIL!!! .........GW Bush [Oct 2001])
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To: SirLinksalot
Supreme Court decisions today reflect thirty years of liberal appointments.
8 posted on 01/18/2006 10:05:43 AM PST by aligncare (Watergate killed journalism)
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To: SirLinksalot

ANTHONY KENNEDY FOR RETIREMENT!


9 posted on 01/18/2006 10:06:33 AM PST by Clintonfatigued (Sam Alito Deserves To Be Confirmed)
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To: SirLinksalot
If CJ Roberts can sweet talk Kennedy into joining the conservative opinion on certain issues he might otherwise tilt to left on, that'll be fine with me. I'd call that progess in the right direction.
10 posted on 01/18/2006 10:15:38 AM PST by Reagan Man (Secure our borders;punish employers who hire illegals;stop all welfare to illegals)
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To: SirLinksalot
In her article, Ms. Dahlia Lithwick merely reaffirms what a number of FReepers observed and discussed over a week ago.

I posted the following on one of the live Alito hearing threads, and once more on another Alito-related thread. Feel free to use it elsewhere as needed.

Reliably conservative:
Chief Justice William Rehnquist
Justice Antonin Scalia
Justice Clarence Thomas

Swing (= unpredictable) votes:
Justice Anthony Kennedy
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

Reliably liberal:
Justice Stephen Breyer
Justice John Paul Stevens
Justice David Souter
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Too soon to tell:
Chief Justice John Roberts (replaced Rehnquist)
Soon-to-be Justice Samuel Alito (will replace O'Connor)

As the above shows, if Roberts and Alito prove to be reliable conservative votes, we have a 4-4 court with one swing vote, an improvement on the 3-4 Rehnquist court with two swing votes, but not a slam dunk for conservative issues.

For those who view the court not in terms of liberal vs. conservative, but in terms of small vs. big government tendencies, nothing in the new court makeup suggests it will begin to roll back the excesses of federal growth and misuse of the Commerce clause we've seen since at least the 1930's.


11 posted on 01/18/2006 10:16:33 AM PST by Wolfstar ("We must...all hang together or...we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin)
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To: SirLinksalot

waiting for Stevens to retire...one way or the other.
at 85; I expect GWB to be looking for a replacement within the next three years...


12 posted on 01/18/2006 10:16:53 AM PST by kellynla (Freedom of speech makes it easier to spot the idiots. Semper Fi!)
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To: xzins

He may take a dirt nap soon enough.


13 posted on 01/18/2006 10:17:37 AM PST by RockinRight ("It's as if all the brain-damaged people in America got together and formed a voting bloc" - Coulter)
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To: Wolfstar

Great breakdown. I figure 1 swing vote is better than the 2 we had.


14 posted on 01/18/2006 10:18:20 AM PST by JerseyDvl ("Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel"-Samuel Johnson to the Dems of today.)
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To: Wolfstar

Thomas seems to "get" the truth of the Commerce clause. Sometimes Scalia does, too. Roberts? Who knows. Alito? Unsure, but I will say he reminds me more of Justice Thomas than any other.


15 posted on 01/18/2006 10:18:59 AM PST by RockinRight ("It's as if all the brain-damaged people in America got together and formed a voting bloc" - Coulter)
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To: Clintonfatigued

Kennedy's only in his 60s. He'll be around a while, unfortunately.


16 posted on 01/18/2006 10:19:41 AM PST by RockinRight ("It's as if all the brain-damaged people in America got together and formed a voting bloc" - Coulter)
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To: kellynla

"waiting for Stevens to retire...one way or the other.
at 85; I expect GWB to be looking for a replacement within the next three years..."


"He may take a dirt nap soon enough."

What about the dread Ginsburg? I heard she is not well.


17 posted on 01/18/2006 10:21:16 AM PST by Vaquero ("An armed society is a polite society" Robert Heinlein)
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To: RockinRight

"waiting for Stevens to retire...one way or the other.
at 85; I expect GWB to be looking for a replacement within the next three years..."


"He may take a dirt nap soon enough."

What about the dread Ginsburg? I heard she is not well.




18 posted on 01/18/2006 10:21:47 AM PST by Vaquero ("An armed society is a polite society" Robert Heinlein)
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To: SirLinksalot
But another key to understanding Kennedy's role as a swing voter is simpler: He just really, really likes the power.
If you care more about getting your name in the history books than you do defending the constitution, then you'll naturally drift towards Judicial Activism, which will make you famous and the hero of generations of leftist university historians to come.
19 posted on 01/18/2006 10:22:16 AM PST by samtheman
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To: kellynla

Stevens will either retire on his own, or God will retire him. Hard to say which will come first.


20 posted on 01/18/2006 10:22:23 AM PST by RockinRight ("It's as if all the brain-damaged people in America got together and formed a voting bloc" - Coulter)
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