28 June 2018 - US Supreme Judge Anthony Kennedy To Retire
Trump says Justice Kennedy's replacement will come from list of 25
(CBS News, 27/06/2018)
President Trump said Wednesday that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's replacement will come from a list of 25 possible nominees that was released by the White House in November. Kennedy announced his retirement Wednesday, saying he will step down effective July 31.
One of the possible nominees, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, tells CBS News he would "of course" accept an offer to serve on the high court.
Mr. Trump released a list of 11 potential nominees after securing the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, one that was heavily influenced by the conservative Heritage Foundation. His campaign expanded the list in the fall of 2016, and it eventually grew to the list of 25 names released last year.
No one on Trump’s short list is fit to replace Kennedy
Nan Aron (The Hill, 27/06/2018)
While the news of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement is not entirely unexpected, it still comes as a thunderclap. This is even more true now than it would have been last June, when speculation also swirled around his possible departure.
Since then, we have had another year to observe the Trump administration’s downward spiral into cruelty and incoherence, an approach to governing that has not spared the judicial branch. Trump has continued to target courts and judges with the crudest of insults, even as his White House works overtime to push forward lower-court judicial nominees who are among the most ideologically extreme and professionally underqualified we have seen in nearly 40 years in this field.
The Supreme Court will now fall to chaos
Joshua Matz (The Washington Post, 27/06/2018)
The Supreme Court teaches us about liberty, dignity and democracy. It safeguards those principles and helps make the Constitution real in our lives. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has devoted his judicial service to that vision. But by retiring in this perilous moment, he has unleashed forces that will test the court like never before.
These are dark days in America. Tribalism, kleptocracy and intolerance stalk the land. The White House is besieged with credible accusations of criminality and corruption. Many have lost faith in their institutions of government. Democracy itself seems besieged.
Yet even in this cynical age, the court has maintained formidable public support. Kennedy is an essential part of that story.
What Anthony Kennedy's retirement means for abortion, same-sex marriage, affirmative action and the future of the Supreme Court
Joan Biskupic (CNN, 28/06/2018)
The Supreme Court was often called the "Kennedy Court" because Justice Anthony Kennedy cast the deciding vote on so many politically salient cases, especially on abortion and gay rights.
With Kennedy's upcoming departure, and the likely nomination of a staunch conservative to replace him, questions immediately arise over what would become of his legacy and the law for all Americans.