Inauguration primal scream Anthony Kennedy Retirement

America after Anthony Kennedy

Let the mourning begin . . .

With Kennedy gone, the Court’s decisions on issues where he’s a down-the-line conservative — like campaign finance and corruption, most business regulation and voting cases, gun rights, religious liberty, etc. — likely won’t change. There’s already a 5-4 conservative majority on those, so conservative rulings like the ones Kennedy wrote or joined in DC v. Heller, Citizens United, or Hobby Lobby will continue apace.

What will change are rulings on issues where Kennedy has helped maintain a shaky 5-4 center-left consensus. Because of the court’s longstanding principle of stare decisis, or obeying past precedent barring a compelling reason not to do so, some liberal Court achievements are likely to stay.

Justice Anthony Kennedy Is Retiring

Kennedy’s decision to retire gives Trump the opportunity to move the court farther to the right. He’s been angling for the opportunity for many months, randomly releasing an updated “short list” of 25 potential nominees in November. Among the leading contenders to replace Kennedy is Brett Kavanaugh, a former Kennedy clerk and judge on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, a court that has been the stepping stone for three sitting Supreme Court justices. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Kavanaugh earned his spot on the DC Circuit after working for Ken Starr investigating President Bill Clinton’s relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky and preparing an impeachment case against Clinton. At 53, Kavanaugh is, like Gorsuch, young enough to influence the court for decades to come.

Why a second supreme court pick for Trump is liberals’ worst nightmare

While it is not unusual for presidents to appoint supreme court justices with similar ideological leanings, Trump’s comments all but reinforced that he is unlikely to nominate a consensus pick if provided the opportunity. In November, the president updated his shortlist of candidates for a hypothetical vacancy, adding to a roster of proven judicial conservatives.

Literally just a bunch of tweets from people who have given up on America

In a stunning development, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his impending retirement from the nation’s highest court on Wednesday. His retirement will be effective at the end of July, throwing a large portion of the country into despair at the the thought of Donald Trump getting a second SCOTUS nomination.

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103 COMMENTS

      • Finally! I’m so excited abortion and homosexuality will be felonies. Full reciprocity, end the BATFs rule. No more background checks. Death penalty galore. No more NFA. F—— the rest of the world. America is The greatest. Suck on that China!

        • Eh. If leftists want to spread AIDS amongst themselves and kill their own offspring instead of breed more leftists why stop them?

          • Agreed. My concern is first and secon Amendment protections. I used to be pro life until I learned that 50 million black babies have been aborted since Roe v Wade. I can’t imagine what our country would look like had those children been born.

        • Because it takes too long to get rid of leftists that way. Helicopters are much more expedient.

        • Most of those things aren’t going to happen. Some roll backs on abortion, maybe. Increase in death penalty? Likely, but also a good thing. But gay marriage is here to stay no matter how conservative the court gets. Oh, and don’t forget, you liberals can thank yourselves for all this. If you didn’t go so absolutely batshit loony during the Obama years, Trump would’ve had nothing to feed on. This is what happens when you go online and tell us you’re going to take our guns away and imprison us. We vote to keep people like you out of office. Paybacks a bitch ain’t it?

        • Finally! I’m so excited abortion and homosexuality will be felonies. Full reciprocity, end the BATFs rule. No more background checks. Death penalty galore. No more NFA. F—— the rest of the world. America is The greatest. Suck on that China!.

          You are drinking and regurgitating the leftist screeds, my guess is you are a hard core Democrat.

          Please list any of the sitting SCOTUS or any of those floated as Trump nominees who would declare homosexuality a “felony.”

          You can and this shows the moment you opened our mouth you start lying as the left just has to do.

          By the way the MAJORITY of DEMOCRATS think doing some types partial birth abortion on demand should be a crime.

          Obama and Clinton both went on the record opposing gay marriage.

          So stop the nonsense, you are not fooling anyone.

          The federal courts have moved to the left of the US public. More have been packed in by the left than representative of the lefts numbers.

          As far as the left suggesting we have gun laws and other civil liberties akin to china, but sorry most of us say no.

          You have gone full derangement.

          • Actually, that’s changing. 1 in 8 federal appeals justices have already been nominated and seated by President Trump. He’s moving at an historic pace. Those are lifetime appointments. And he’s less than 2 years in. Complain all you want about him, but there’s never been a more effective president at sitting conversation judges. Ever. And if we can hold the senate, which seems very possible, odds are he’ll get a third Justice before 2020. And if he wins re-election, he may get 2 more. Including Thomas’ replacement.

  2. What would explode the left’s brains more is a thrid Supreme Court. Nomination from Trump

  4. This is good news, but we all know the demoncraps will stall thos as long as possible.

    • Then it’s a REALLY good thing that McConnell cut off the summer recess to focus on filling judicial appointments last week. Now they can make confirming the new SCOTUS nominee their top priority.

      • It, uh, seemed like an extraneous detail at the time, didn’t it? Heh heh heh.

  5. But then again maybe not! Back in December 2016, Donald Trump was quoted as saying: “I have you’re votes, I don’t need you anymore”. Once confirmed as a US Supreme Court Justice, he’s/she’s no long under the Presidents control. And considering it’s a Lifetime Appointment, what is the Presidents recourse if it Goes Bad for the President. How do you Impeach a US Supreme Court Justice, just because he/she disagrees with you.

  6. Obama had two, now Trump gets a 2nd.
    Seems Fair and Balanced to me.

    But weren’t both of Obama’s pics women in their early 40s? If they emulate Ginsberg, they’ll be around for a LOOOONG time.

    • Actually Obummer almost had three fortunately the Senate passed on holding hearings on him,

      • There’s a small part of me that wants to see Trump nominate Garland when RBG leaves the bench….just to watch the dems scream and yell about how unqualified he is.

  7. Meh. We’re stuck in “wait and see” mode. Not all conservatives or Republicans are pro-gun, after all. And there are many more Amendments than 2A; we’ll need to be vigilant that the next justice defends liberty in general and not merely one constituency’s pet issues. After all, the 4A regarding cellphone communications was recently strengthened by a 5-4 decision that included justices on the left. Not to mention that many on the right see the 1A’s establishment clause as optional as long as the religion gaining the benefit of such violation is their own. And both sides go soft on 4A and 8A when the enforcers are one of their own.

    Time will tell…

    • No. Right now if Heller were voted again it would still be 5:4, meaning despite about 80%of the public agreeing gun ownership of some kind of firearm being a right for the law abiding, say that background checked non criminals would be able to own a pistol — FOUR of the court Justice think any jurisdiction can simply ban it on a simple majority vote of their legislature.

      there is no other subject where four members of the court are so out of step and to the left than allowing total gun bans on the law abiding. so second ammdent is a core test. The public is all over the map on patriot, immigration, fourth and fifth, and so are the courts. The massive majority of the public supports a Heller view yet the court is a single vote from allowing total bans

  9. TTAG “Surely there will be no comeuppance! Never! This party will last forever! Only good times from now on!”
    Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, buddy.

    • Tie to quit crowing and going back to getting out the vote in November.
      If the Senate goes democrat, Trump will get no more conservative justice picks approved.

  10. Some say that Kennedy was a conservative on guns. And his votes for Heller and MacDonald were much appreciated.

    But a closer look suggests that he may have been the source of the logjam on the 2nd at the court ever since. A lot of court observers think the failure to take more 2A cases is that most of the conservatives weren’t sure how Kennedy would vote.

    If Trump appoints the right kind of justice everything, everything, could change.

    • This is exactly on point. Gorsuch has complained about the court not taking 2A cases. With Deerfield on the move and CA only getting worse and now the possibility of extraterritorial audits under the remote sales tax……we need a good conservative now more then ever

      • @ TimeforTruth.

        Us Supreme Court receives ~40,000 cases per year and only acts on ~8,000 of them. Other ~32,000 are pass on to Lower Federal Courts. Even the USSC has a Vetting Process on Cases for Review. And Neil Gorsuch isn’t on the Vetting Board, Chief Justice John Roberts is. It’s his Bailiwick, not Neil Gorsuch’s…

    • “most of the conservatives weren’t sure how Kennedy would vote.”

      On the contrary, I believe they were all too sure about how he would vote.

  11. So much winning. And then today came along.

    It feels good.

    And the liberal tears are the cherry on top.

    JOhn

  13. Wouldn’t you like to ask Maxine Waters

    Would you endorse us burning a cross in their yard?

  14. Two big problems for a 51 count Republican Senate…..

    ….those fucking assholes …..McCain and Flake.

    • How dare they not walk in lockstep with Trump! It’s not like they answer to their constituents and not the president, right?

      • Too bad, Flake confirmed tonight he’s on board. McCain doesn’t matter. In case of a tie, Pence breaks a tie. But don’t worry, there will be between 2 and 3 Democrats in red states, up for re-election, who will vote for Trupm’s nominee. Just like they did for Gorsuch. MAGA

          • LOL!!!!! Hahahahaha. All the delusional and mentally ill Liberal Terrorists™️ have nothing else to hope for, so this pathetic dream persists inside their rancid bubble. These filthy, subhuman, bonafide domestic enemies have thrown all their eggs in the basket of “fake Russian collusion”. For folks like me, every Trump “atrocity” is doubly delicious. First, it undoubtedly advances American interests. Finally, it helps destroy the agenda of the subversive, feral leftists that pose an existential threat to our Constitutional Republic. We’re one step closer to a modernized Executive Order 9066 and the literal liquidation of America’s most dangerous enemies. MAGA

        • Unless one of you commies plans to shoot him, Trump will still be president on July 31st… 2024. If you do…

          1. President Pence
          2. Commie purge will be glorious. We’ll quickly run out of helicopter fuel.

          • As you well know, PWRSERGE, any attempt on the life of President Trump will certainly open the floodgates that will result in the literal genocide of 10’s of millions of Liberal Terrorists™️ during the course of the much needed and long overdue Civil/Restorative War to restore our Constitutional Republic . These feral leftists should make no mistake in our resolve to DEFEND ourselves against their “War of Leftist Aggression”. Folks like me are ready, willing and able to wage a “winner take all, once and for all” War that will make our last Civil “engagement” seem like a quaint playground squabble”.

      • How dare they not walk in lockstep with Trump! It’s not like they answer to their constituents and not the president, right?
        Flake has already announced he will support a Trump nominee

        More Democrats will switch over to support a Trump nominee. Essentially any Trump nominee is going to win by 3 votes even if McCain zombie makes it to DC to vote against trump

  16. Judge Jeanine Pirro gets my endorsement if she isn’t selected to replace Wormwood Sessions as AG.

    • I love her, but she’s many decades too old for the Supreme Court. Trump must put a 40 year old, give or take a few years, on the bench. And according to his statements tonight, that’s his intentions. (He stated in his speech in North Dakota tonight that this next nominee could serve for the next “40 to 45 years”). And now we wait, patiently (but with exuberant anticipation), for that filthy hatchet wound, Ginsberg, to drop dead. Preferably in public so the anti American leftists can’t cover it up and conceal her death.

      • @ TrueBornSonofLiberty.

        One slight problem! Jeanine Pirro, lost her license to Practice Law after being convicted on 34-counts of Tax Evasion and Tax Fraud in November 2000. She a “Judge” in name only…

        • Nowhere does it say that having a current license is a requirement. Trump could legally appoint his dog.

        • Simple… she gets nominated by the President and approved by the Senate. There is no other requirement.

          • @ pwrserge.

            Even a Presidential Nomination doesn’t eliminate a Felony Conviction and Reinstate her ability to Practice Law again, even with a Presidential Pardon. To get a Presidential Pardon, is admitting to Guilt…

        • This is true. Trump could appoint Putin if he wanted to. There’s simply NOTHING in there about qualifications. In fact it used to be very common that a SCOTUS judge would have little or no formal law experience.

          That said, Jeanine Pirro is dirty and if you think she’s on ‘your side’ just wait a few minutes till it’s in her immediate interest not to be. Don’t trust someone just because they’re loud and on Fox.

          • @ pwrserge.

            I don’t think the “other” Supreme Court Justices would allow it! Because by doing it, it threatens their own positions as Supreme Court Justices. If they can be So Easily Replaced…

        • UlnarNerveDysfunction:

          You sound like a leftist — which the studies by Pew show generally do not know civics anywhere near the level of conservatives. That is why your posts are full of nonsense.

          A supreme court judge does not need to be a member of the bar, or even an attorney or a citizen — or even an adult. Judges can obviously be criminals because many in history have been (usually leftist judges)

          • @ Rastan.

            Still have to be able to Interpret the Laws of the Land and have a Working Knowledge of the US Constitution, the Federalist Papers and the Bill of Rights. And very Few outside of Lawyers and University Professor’s have that knowledge…

      • I bear no ill will towards Ginsburg, though I do disagree with her on almost everything. That being said, did you notice how cadaver like she was looking in the most recent pictures? Poor thing should really pull the plug, I don’t see her lasting much longer.

        • Ginsburg has been dead since 2009. She just doesn’t know it. She’s like the Cumaean Sybil of American government.

          • @ Nanashi.

            Exactly how that? “God given rights”, can only be given by a Deity (God) or a Sovereign (Emperor/King)! We’re a Multi-Religion Society with NO Emperor or King, so where did your “God given rights” come from…

        • Wrong commie. We’re a Christian society. If you don’t like that, feel free to get out.

        • Exactly how that? “God given rights”, can only be given by a Deity (God) or a Sovereign (Emperor/King)! We’re a Multi-Religion Society with NO Emperor or King, so where did your “God given rights” come from…

          Ulmar WTF. You are parroting Hitler and Stalin’s views

          Your support the concept like the left does that the “sovereign” is government gives rights that is the view of all the totalitarian dictatorships.

          The term “God given” related to liberties and rights concepts is reconnoitered in 200 years of us jurisprudence and potential science as analogs to natural/preexisting — inherent belonging to the individual

          — The left believes the e government (or king as you put it) gives people their rights

          — Conservatives and libertarians believe it is the people who inherent have the rights and liberites — and the people that decide what rights the government has.

          It is a core difference and your confusion shows deep inngorance as to the basic concepts of liberties and rights since the enlightenment.

    • Someone mentioned her in another post so i checked her wikipedia page. According to that she is pro-abortion and pro-affirmative action. We can do better than that i think.

  17. It will be hilarious when the liberal bastards start again imagining someone is “forcing their religion down our throats!!!”

    haha

    • Wouldn’t be the first time most of these degenerates had something shoved down their throats.

    • Why is treading on a Constitutional Amendment hilarious? Do you imagine it equally hilarious when Democrats attempt lawfare on 2A?

      Yeah, didn’t think so. That mentality is part of the problem (i.e., of each side having “favored” and “disfavored” rights, rather than actively defending all ten Amendments).

      • Yeah, I don’t see that in what he wrote. It’s all about perception and hypocrisy. The so called separation of church and state is a hugely different situation than either freedom of speech or the right to keep and bear.

  18. Half of the (loud) left-leaning folks I know are rending their shirts at the end of Kennedy’s tenure. The other half are remarking that he was a monster that should never have gotten on the court.

    As it comes to a replacement we could do better for the 2nd. But for the 1st, 4th and 5th Amendments we could end up doing worse.

    • That’s what nearly no one here wants to bother thinking about. There’s more than one Amendment, and some conservatives are ore authoritarianistic than others.

  19. Before everyone starts popping champagne corks, we need to first see who the nominee is and then if the Congress actually passes them. It will mean the Nuclear Option a second time.

    • Wait a minute, Justice Anthony Kennedy is a Republican! Replacing a Republican with a Republican changes what Court dynamics. It’s still going to 5-4 regardless of the outcome.u

    • It will mean the Nuclear Option a second time.

      Oh please it will not. for virtually all of history the US, like most developed democracies do, did these on simple majority.

      the only outlier and absurdity is this recent and idiotic 60% rule for scotus.

      • The Nuclear Option will most certainly happen in this situation. Reid said it should, and McConnell has no reason to not to do it.

        Since the Nuclear Option is nothing more than a simple up or down confirmation vote without going through the modern filibuster/cloture process, it’s not some crazy political jujitsu, it’s just a majority rules vote.

    • Probably someone told him that Disney Security wouldn’t put up with that kind of shit. And he and his fellow “kids” would be the ones traumatized.

    • I wish someone would shadow Hogg and play really loud rap music with gunfire.

      It would really liven things up.

  21. Ahh Schadenfreude, why can’t I quit you.

    Oh that’s right, you are too deliciously enjoyable.

  22. Jeez, I knew the lefties were a bunch of drama-queens, but they’re literally regressing in their mental/psychological development.

    …interesting…

    *jots down notes*

  23. No longer a Sure Thing! US Senate is considering replacement of US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, after the 2019 New Year. As it Stands as of today, its 48 Republicans against 49 Democrats. With both Flake and McCain as Hold Outs.

    • Lie. Flake already came out in support. We don’t need McCain. We already have enough. And if it’s a tie, we win. And that’s assuming the Dems up for re-election in rednstates won’t go along like they did for Gorsuch. It’s a done deal, pal.

  24. I just found out that I hate everybody – how can what I called ‘my people’ aka ‘gun people’ froth at the mouth when the government wants to control their person via gun control, but hand themselves over to the government for control over their own bodies?

    How in the hell does that make sense? I am all for a non-liberal/non-democrat supreme court, especially when so many states legislatures are going blue/purple, but come on.. really? You are ok saying that you should be allowed to do what ever the hell you want on one hand, but not so for others (same sex marriages/abortions).

    Where in the depths of hell do you draw your logic from?? How do any of you literally not see the hypocrisy in this mode of thought?

    I am glad Trump gets to pick the SC replacement, but conflating that AND enjoying it when it comes to more government control is asinine…

  27. In a show of complete and utter self-imposed ignorance, leftists never stop to wonder “why are we losing our minds at the prospect of Trump nominating another SCOTUS justice?”

    If the leftists had any capacity for rational thought, they would be pondering along the lines of “If we’re so worried by one justice of a nine-member panel, isn’t that a sign that the SCOTUS has far, far too much power – most of it usurped through legal sophistry?”

    They never seem to stop to think about the situation they’ve helped bring about. Never.

  28. Who was it that said, “elections have consequences.” Oh, yeah, that guy! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, truly hilarious.
    Love it when Schumer “demands” we wait until after the midterms so those elected by the “people” can weigh in. What, the ones in there now weren’t elected by the “people?” Are they illegitimate? Keep demanding, Schumey!

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