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How dare an 81-year-old man retire from the Supreme Court. How dare he. That, in a nutshell, seems to be the widespread reaction among many liberals to the announcement that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy will step down from the bench next month. "Anthony Kennedy Just Destroyed His Legacy as a Gay Rights Hero," announced a headline at Slate. Twitter, that great Hieronymus Bosch painting of our collective id, was aflame in what can only be described as full-on liberal panic. "The future of our democracy is at stake," proclaimed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. This gnashing of teeth and...

Years ago, when I was a young lawyer, I had an interesting conversation with a much older judge. He was a Democrat, an old-school liberal, and he said something revealing: “There’s the law, and then there’s what’s right. My job is to do what’s right.” Or, to put the philosophy in the words of one of my leftist law professors, “You determine the outcome first, then you do your reasoning.” Time after time, that’s exactly what Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared to do. I can think of few better summaries of Kennedy’s jurisprudence — especially in the cases that fired his...

The retiring justice seems to have been a crucial obstacle to hearing Second Amendment cases. Although Anthony Kennedy joined all three decisions in which the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, his retirement probably means the Court will be less reluctant to define the contours of that right. In the decade since the Court first ruled that a law was inconsistent with the Second Amendment, it has passed up almost every opportunity to resolve lingering questions about which forms of gun control are constitutional. It seems clear that Kennedy bears much of the responsibility...

Republican Senator Mike Lee gave the following speech on the Senate floor regarding the 45th annual March for Life. Mr. President, today hundreds of thousands of Americans from all walks of life will participate in the 45th annual March for Life. Why do these citizens march, year after year? It certainly isn’t for their health … Or for the media coverage. No, these Americans march on behalf of those who cannot. They march for uniquely vulnerable members of the human family. For the unborn. For those threatened by abortion. And for the countless innocent lives already lost. These Americans march...

Brett Kavanaugh (2.5:1) Amul Thapar (3.6:1) Amy Coney Barrett (4.0:1) Raymond Kethledge (5.0:1) Kevin Newsom (6.0:1) Patrick Wyrick (8.0:1) Britt Grant (8.0:1) Thomas Hardiman (9.5:1) Mike Lee (9.5:1) William Pryor (10.0:1)

Judge Brett Kavanaugh sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Several news articles, including those here, here, and here, mention him as a leading contender to be nominated by President Donald Trump to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spiked the panic on the left by announcing efforts to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy before the midterms. The Supreme Court Justice announced his retirement Wednesday, effective July 31, after more than three decades on the high court. His successor, chosen by President Trump, could transform the Supreme Court for years to come and the left is in a meltdown. “We will vote to confirm Justice Kennedy’s successor this fall,” McConnell said on the Senate floor after the news broke. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley echoed the expectations that the nomination process would begin soon. “For...

The golden age of conservative jurisprudence is here. Fisher v. University of Texas protected racial discrimination in college admissions. Justice Kennedy wrote the decision joined by Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Breyer. The court’s only African-American justice dissented. As did Roberts and Alito. Scalia had been the most vigorous of the Supreme Court members in challenging racial preferences in college admissions. But he had passed away. The 4-3 decision that continued the shameful tradition of progressive racist jurisprudence will become an impossible relic once President Trump’s next Supreme Court nominee joins Gorsuch on the bench. As we wrap up a season of...

Members of the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday were heard groaning and saying, “Oh, my God,” when their meeting was broken up with news of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement. Politico reported-- citing an audio recording-- that the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee was interrupted by the news alert that was followed with one person saying, “This is not good news.” **SNIP** The New York Times editorial board called Kennedy's decision “crushing.”

Earlier this afternoon, Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement. Court observers long thought it was possible that he’d step down after this most recent term, but now it’s confirmed. The moment has arrived. In the first two years of his first term, President Trump is set to nominate just as many Supreme Court justices as Clinton, Bush, and Obama nominated in all eight years of their presidencies. That means that no matter what happens the rest of his presidency — whether it’s cut short by scandal or it extends to two full terms — he’ll make an indelible mark on...

Various civil rights groups are backing calls from Democratic lawmakers to hold off on a vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's replacement until after the November elections. Vanita Gupta, head of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, says senators need to put country over party and use every tool to stop what she calls President Donald Trump's plan "to take over the Supreme Court for the next 40 years." Despite the Republican majority, Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund says she's confident senators can be persuaded to hold off....

A writer for Comedy Central said he wished Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy was dead after Kennedy announced his intention to retire, giving President Donald Trump another court pick. “I wish this Kennedy had been shot instead of the other ones,” Curtis Cooke wrote on Twitter Wednesday in response to news of Kennedy’s retirement. The “other ones” is an apparent reference to the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy and former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. Cooke is a writer on Comedy Central’s “The Jim Jefferies Show.” Cook’s death-wish for Kennedy comes amid an increasingly volatile political environment, in which...

Hollywood celebrities jumped on social media Wednesday and fired off a series of emotional reactions, calls to “fight,” and cataclysmic predictions in response to the news that Justice Anthony Kennedy had announced his retirement from the Supreme Court. “ok, dems. this is real. all y’all paying attention? this is how you lose a country,” actor Don Cheadle said on Twitter. “all of our rights are in the balance. urge your leadership to resist when trump attempts to appoint the next swamp thing out of the pez dispenser or kiss it bye bye.” Other stars, like Will & Grace actress Debra...

President Trump said he would move quickly to name a replacement. He also said his nominee would be drawn from a list of 25 names that the White House issued in November. McConnell said the Senate will move quickly on a replacement. Any Democratic hopes that Mr. McConnell might hold up the Senate’s consideration of Justice Kennedy’s successor until after the midterm elections were quickly put to rest. Mr. McConnell took to the Senate floor not long after Justice Kennedy’s announcement to make clear that he expected to begin consideration of a replacement as soon as possible.

Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday, precipitating a cataclysmic election year confirmation battle. Though the White House has publicly identified as many as 25 possible candidates to succeed Kennedy, the early favorites for the pick are drawn from a small crop of young appeals court judges popular in Washington’s conservative legal circles. Speaking in the Oval Office shortly after Kennedy’s announcement, Trump confirmed he would draw his selection from a list of possible Supreme Court nominees assembled during the campaign. Five individuals were added to that list in November 2017. These early favorites include...

Matthews seemed to suggest that Democrats should block the appointment of a conservative judge until after the midterms, citing Republicans blocking Merrick Garland when Obama was president. “The base will attack the leadership for this, if they allow it to happen, and they should,” Matthews said of Democrats. “This is a time for vengeance for what happened two years ago, and if they don’t reap the vengeance now with four and a half months to go before the election, they will not look very strong to their base, and I think they’ll be under attack.”

Justice Anthony Kennedy has announced that he’s retiring from the Supreme Court. And if you thought post-Janus liberal Twitter was lit, well, brace yourselves: WARNING GRAPHIC OBSCENE LANGUAGE AT LINK. CELEBRITIES LOSE THEIR COLLECTIVIST MINDS!..................

Why when Neil Gorsuch became one of the Supremes, didn't he have any chance of becoming 'The Swing Vote'? And, does Kennedy's replacement, automatically become the Swinger? Or does some other, standing Justice assume that mantle?

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on Wednesday lamented the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy as “a disaster” for “We the People.” The 81-year-old Kennedy, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan's, who has long been considered a “swing vote” on the court, announced his retirement on Wednesday. “This is a disaster for everyone who believes in the 'We the People' vision of the Constitution,” Merkley tweeted. In a follow-up tweet, Merkley noted that he was “worried” about the standing of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Kennedy’s retirement opens the door for President Trump...

President Donald Trump says he met with Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy at the White House on Wednesday shortly before the announcement of the justice's retirement. Trump says he discussed with Kennedy some potential replacements but declined to say which names were mentioned. The president says in the Oval Office that he will choose Kennedy's successor from a list of 25 names that have been under consideration. The president says Kennedy was at the White House for about 30 minutes....