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Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy to retire
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy says he's retiring effective July 31. Kennedy stepping down would mark a second high-court pick for President Trump.- For more news, please go to FoxNews.comand watch Fox News Channel.
Anthony Kennedy retiring from Supreme Court
https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnb...g?v=1530123001
June 27, 2018
Jacob Pramuk
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy will retire from the highest U.S. court, giving President Donald Trump another chance to fundamentally reshape the top of the judiciary.
In a letter to Trump dated Wednesday, Kennedy said he would step down.
"For a member of the legal profession, it is the highest of honors to serve on this Court," he wrote. "Please permit me by this letter to express my profound gratitude for having had the privilege to seek in each case how best to know, interpret and defend the Constitution and the laws that must always conform to its mandates and promises.
The president's first nominee to the court, conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, has already had an enormous effect on U.S. policy in rulings this week related to Trump's ban on travel from certain countries, abortion and labor unions.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/27/anth...eme-court.html
We need Ruthie and Sotomayor to retire!
Justice Kennedy to retire, opening Supreme Court seat
June 27, 2018
Richard Wolf
WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring, giving President Trump and Senate Republicans an opportunity to create a solidly conservative court that could last for decades.
Kennedy's long-rumored decision to step down July 31 will touch off a titanic battle between conservatives and liberals in the nation's capital, on the airwaves, and in states represented by key senators whose votes will be needed to confirm his successor.
Kennedy, 81, has held the most important seat on the court for more than a decade: He is the swing vote on issues ranging from abortion and affirmative action to gay rights and capital punishment, often siding with the court’s more liberal justices.
His long-anticipated retirement will come a year after Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, which followed a 14-month saga that replenished but did not bolster the conservatives’ narrow advantage on the high court.
Kennedy announced his retirement in a letter to President Trump addressed "My dear Mr. President."
"For a member of the legal profession it is the highest of honors to serve on this court," he wrote. "Please permit me by this letter to express my profound gratitude for having had the privilege to seek in each case how best to know, interpret, and defend the Constitution and the laws that must always conform to its mandates and promises."
He had given no hint of his departure during the court's last day in session Wednesday, sitting quietly with his right hand to his temple, occasionally adjusting his glasses. However, his wife Mary and several members of his family were in court.
Kennedy’s departure will leave a hole in the middle of the courtthat Republicans are eager to fill with a more reliable conservative. Trump has said he would choose from a list of 25 potential nominees assembled with the help of the conservative Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation. That list was expanded in November to include Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit – a front-runner for the seat who, like Gorsuch, once clerked for Kennedy.
Trump’s opportunity is similar to George W. Bush’s in 2006, when he replaced moderate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor with the more conservative Samuel Alito. It is not quite the bonanza handed George H.W. Bush in 1991, when he replaced liberal titan Thurgood Marshall with ultra-conservative Clarence Thomas. That still could happen, however, if liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Stephen Breyer were to exit while Trump or another Republican is in the White House.
Among the other judges on Trump’s list most often mentioned as potential Kennedy replacements are Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, who serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, and Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, who serves on the 6th Circuit. More intriguing are fresh faces such as newly confirmed federal appeals court judges Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana and Amul Thapar of Kentucky.
Clues that Kennedy might retire began to emerge in 2016, when he scheduled a reunion of former law clerks a year earlier than his customary five-year interval. But skeptics noted the reunion was planned even before the November election, at a time when Hillary Clinton was the heavy favorite to win the White House.
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/0b5...100-Photos.jpgJustice Anthony Kennedy presided in April over the swearing-in of Justice Neil Gorsuch at the White House. (Photo: Evan Vucci, AP)
Kennedy’s ultimate decision to wait until 2018 gave the Supreme Court time to settle into a new pattern with Gorsuch shoring up its right flank. Had he waited until next year, it would have given Democrats a chance to regain the Senate majority this November and block Trump's nominee.
Republicans have a 51-seat majority now, giving them the ability to withstand Democratic opposition. The traditional 60-vote threshold for high court nominees was abolished last April when Democrats threatened to block Gorsuch’s confirmation, prompting Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell to push through a rules change allowing justices to be confirmed with simple majority votes.
Still, the upcoming battle over Kennedy’s replacement is certain to be one of the most intense ever, with conservative and liberal interest groups poised to spend tens of millions of dollars in advertising and grass-roots activity.
Much of the liberals’ effort likely will focus on moderate GOP senators such as Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, who might be wary of adding a hard-line conservative and risking decades-old precedents such as Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in 1973. Conservatives will focus on moderate Democrats running for re-election in Trump country, such as Indiana's Joe Donnelly, North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp and West Virginia's Joe Manchin.
That battle is likely to play out over the next few months. Republicans are determined to fill Kennedy’s seat before the court’s 2018 term begins in October, as well as the November elections.
Contributing: Gregory Korte
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...eat/952716001/
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Unfortunately Sotomayor will be around for awhile. She was appointed by Obama.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beezer
Sotomayor has some serious health issues.
Sotomayor at work after health scare - POLITICO
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/19/sonia-sotomayor-health-scare-349971
Jan 19, 2018 - Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was diagnosed as a child with ... and prevent serious complications, but risks low blood sugar levels.
Sotomayor injury 'more severe than initially believed' | TheHill
thehill.com/.../healthcare/383956-sotomayor-injury-more-severe-than-initially-believe...
Apr 19, 2018 - Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s shoulder injury is more severe than initially believed, the court’s press office said Thursday. ... On Thursday, Arberg said Sotomayor underwent additional testing to further define the left shoulder injury. “The tests revealed that the ...
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 'feeling fine,' going strong at 85 - USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg.../397419002/
Mar 13, 2018 - Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg won't let President Trump replace her. ... “It's fair to say that there are many people worried about her health, and ...