|role=Associate
|nominator=[[Ronald Reagan]]
|terms=February 18, 1988-October 6– July 31, 2018
|preceded=[[Lewis Powell]]
|former=n
|succeeded=[[Brett Kavanaugh]]
}}
|military=y
|allegiance=[[United States]]
|rank=
|branch=[[United States Army]]
|serviceyears=1961-1962
}}
'''Anthony McLeod Kennedy''' (born July 23, 1936) was the Supreme Court justice who was nominated by [[Ronald Reagan]] after [[Lewis Powell]] retired. Kennedy was a [[California]]n like Reagan, who turned to him after two prior nominations to a vacancy on the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] had not been confirmed.
Before siding completely with abortion, Kennedy had previously cast the deciding vote in support of a narrowed affirmance of [[abortion]] rights in 1992, in [[Planned Parenthood v. Casey]]. Between then and 2015, Kennedy's only votes for abortion were in denying certiorari on [[pro-life]] petitions. At oral argument in the ''[[Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores]]'' case on March 25, Justice Kennedy was critical of the possibility of the government requiring corporations to fund [[abortion]]. Uncertain until 2016 about whether Kennedy would rule for them, pro-aborts typically did not appeal their court losses to the Supreme Court, perhaps fearing that Justice Kennedy will cast the deciding vote against them and thereby establish a pro-life precedent nationwide. With Kennedy on their side now, abortion clinics are expected to seek to overturn numerous pro-life laws, beginning with a lawsuit in Louisiana merely a few days after the Supreme Court ruled.
Justice Kennedy authored all three four of the Supreme Court decisions which have advanced the [[homosexual agenda]].<ref>The three decisions are ''Romer'', ''Lawrence'', and ''Windsor'', and ''Obergefell''.</ref> He was also the decisive vote and wrote the 5-4 opinion in favor of direct corporate spending on ads in campaigns, in ''Citizens United v. FEC'', 130 S. Ct. 876 (2010).
On October 6July 31, 2018 , Kennedy retired and was soon replaced by [[Brett Kavanaugh]].
== Judicial Philosophy ==
In general terms, Kennedy has voted with the [[conservative]] side of the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] on these issues:
*campaign speech, such as ''[[Citizens United v. FEC]]''*[[Establishment Clause]], such as ''[[Van Orden v. Perry]]''*[[partial birth abortion]], such as ''[[Stenberg v. Carhart]]'' and ''[[Gonzales v. Carhart]]''*[[federalism]],<ref>Kennedy's praise of [[federalism]] and dual sovereignty is often quoted from his concurrence in ''[[United States v. Lopez]]'', 514 U.S. 549 (1995) ("federalism was the unique contribution of the Framers to political science and political theory. Though on the surface the idea may seem counter-intuitive, it was the insight of the Framers that freedom was enhanced by the creation of two governments, not one")</ref>such as ''[[United States v. Lopez]]''
*criminal procedure, such as ''[[Kyllo v. United States]]'' and ''[[DA's Office for the Third Judicial Dist. v. Osborne]]''
*business law, such as ''[[Nevada Dep't of Human Resources v. Hibbs]]''*[[gun control]], such as ''[[D.C. v. Heller]]''*[[healthcare]], such as ''[[National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius]]''*[[voting rights]],<ref>https://youtu.be/XWwioFJNOHg</ref> such as ''[[Shelby County v. Holder]]''*[[religious freedom]], as in ''[[Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores]]'' and ''[[Town of Greece v. Galloway]]''
But Kennedy has voted with the [[liberal]] side of the Court on these issues:
*''[[Roe v. Wade]]'', such as ''[[Planned Parenthood v. Casey]]''*[[pornography]]*[[death penalty]], such as ''[[Roper v. Simmons]]''*[[homosexual agenda]], such as ''[[Lawrence v. Texas]]'' and ''[[Obergefell v. Hodges]]''*[[parental rights]]
*rights of enemy combatants
*[[global warming]]
*use of foreign law to interpret the [[U.S. Constitution]]
*[[immigration]]<ref>http://www.slate.com/id/2206039/</ref>
===Separation of Powers===
==Early Years as a Lawyer==
He was in private practice in San Francisco, California from 1961–19631961 to 1963, as well as in Sacramento, California from 1963–19751963 to 1975. From 1965 to 1988, he was a Professor of Constitutional Law at the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific. He has served in numerous positions during his career, including a member of the California Army National Guard in 1961, the board of the Federal Judicial Center from 1987–19881987 to 1988, and two committees of the Judicial Conference of the United States: the Advisory Panel on Financial Disclosure Reports and Judicial Activities, subsequently renamed the Advisory Committee on Codes of Conduct, from 1979–19871979 to 1987, and the Committee on Pacific Territories from 1979–19901979 to 1990, which he chaired from 1982–19901982 to 1990.<ref>[https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/biographies.aspx Biographies of Current Justices of the Supreme Court]</ref>
Although he lacked vast experience as a lawyer, many of his father's important clients stayed with him out of respect for the elder Kennedy. His clients soon discovered the young lawyer had just as much, if not more, legal skills than his father.
When Justice Lewis Powell retired in 1987, Kennedy appeared on a short list of possibilities for the President's nomination, but [[Ronald Wilson Reagan|Reagan]] nominated [[Robert Bork]], but the feisty, [[conservative]] Bork met with fierce political opposition from [[liberals]] in the Senate and ultimately failed to win confirmation. Reagan nominated Douglas Ginsburg, a judge from the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia Circuit, who subsequently withdrew. Reagan, on the advice of Meese, finally turned to Kennedy to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. Kennedy's nomination, unlike Reagan's two previous picks, encountered little resistance. After the tumultuous events surrounding Bork and Ginsburg, Kennedy's low key nomination appeared calming and even [[liberals]] thought of him as fair-minded and pragmatic. The Senate unanimously confirmed Kennedy and he was sworn into office on February 8, 1988.
Since he had experience as a federal judge, Justice Kennedy made an easy transition to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]]. He has voted consistently with his past record on many issues, but disappointed [[conservatives]] by providing a fifth vote to sustain [[Roe v. Wade]] in 1992. On several key issues Justice Kennedy remains remained the swing vote on the Court.
== References ==
[[Category:Judicial Activism]]
[[Category:Homosexual Agenda]]
[[Category:Moderates]]
[[Category:Liberal Republicans]]