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[TangoAlphaLima]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/24/politics/anthony-kennedy-retirement-rumors/index.html

Sources close to Kennedy say that he is seriously considering retirement, but they are unclear if it could occur as early as this term.

His departure would cause a seismic shift and offer President Donald Trump a chance to continue reshaping the court. Trump's first nominee -- Justice Neil Gorsuch, himself a former Kennedy clerk -- joined the court earlier this year.

"As the court's most important Justice -- at the center of the institution's ideological balance -- Justice Kennedy's ability to bridge the divide between left and right on critical issues such as the right to access abortion cannot be overstated," said Elizabeth Wydra, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center. "Replacing Justice Kennedy with a Trump nominee would almost certainly sound the death knell for Roe, just as candidate Trump promised during the 2016 campaign."

 

[SlipperyFishes]

Fuck

 

[Prompto]

We're fucked

 

[CrocMother]

Let's just start over

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

Damn I guess elections do matter.

 

[TheAbsolution]

If he was retiring, why would he taking a whole bunch of cases for the next year that are the kind of cases that are up his alley?

 

[jack_package_200]

But her emails.

And yeah we are screwed.

 

[Wanda/Wander]

 

[commedieu]

Lol.

Come on.

 

[SapphiCine]

Fuck.

Please not be true.

 

[Sponge]

Fuck

 

[skullmuffins]

Why would he retire before that partisan gerrymandering case that everyone was saying was designed specifically for him? Don't do this to us, man.

 

[BoboBrazil]

Trump gonna get to replace 3+ supreme court justices. Thanks people that wrote in bullshit on ballots.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

Don't worry guys, the cia fbi nsa fifa are going to impeach Trump any minute now.... ...aaaaany minute now.... oh....

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

 

[CrocMother]

Trump gonna get to replace 3+ supreme court justices. Thanks people that wrote in bullshit on ballots.

If Dems do well in 2018, can we block this somehow like the Reps did with Garland?

 

[jack_package_200]

Trump gonna get to replace 3+ supreme court justices. Thanks people that wrote in bullshit on ballots.

I know people who thought they were so fucking cool for writing Bernie Sanders in.

Fuck em.

 

[SpaceCadetKeon]

Please God no.

 

[CrazyDude]

There goes the future of anything progressive in our lifetime.

 

[Angelus Errare]

Whelp, 1700s here we come.

 

[BoboBrazil]

If Dems do well in 2018, can we block this somehow like the Reps did with Garland?

No, because dems cave to pressure and republicans don't give a fuck.

 

[Slayven]

"Replacing Justice Kennedy with a Trump nominee would almost certainly sound the death knell for Roe, just as candidate Trump promised during the 2016 campaign."

53%?

 

[Slime]

Phase II of Operation: Turkey-fication

 

[SchrodingerC]

Someone better chain Kennedy to the supreme court, he's not fucking going anywhere until the orange parasite is gone.

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

The uncomfortable thing about this is the few US citizens who vote are single issue voters and roe vs wade isn't a big concern for them too.

 

[Dierce]

If this happens the next Democratic president will have to pack the court. There is no other option https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Procedures_Reform_Bill_of_1937

 

[Drkirby]

I do not seem him retiring until next year, since he seems to have staffed up for another year already.

 

[PopeReal]

But voting for that random person was making a statement.

Now we are all fucked. Good job America.

 

[HylianTom]

If there's a conservative majority on the court, red states will essentially have a blank check to do whatever they want to minorities; the federal judiciary will no longer stand in their way. Kennedy and the four liberals were essentially the one roadblock to us going down this path.

If he steps down, things will get ugly.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

The uncomfortable thing about this is the few US citizens who vote are single issue voters and roe vs wade isn't a big concern for them too.

Roe Vs Wade isn't the only thing a 6-3 court would do, friend.

 

[Baroquemantic]

Well, shit.

 

[reckless]

No, because dems cave to pressure and republicans don't give a fuck.

Or because there was nothing they could do to stop it. The filibuster is gone that was the only option.

Also we're so fucked.

 

[Tovarisc]

Wasn't it estimated Trump could get to put 2-3 judges to SCOTUS?

 

[Cagey]

If this happens the next Democratic president will have to pack the court. There is no other option https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Procedures_Reform_Bill_of_1937

No. You don't open this Pandora's Box.

 

[Angelus Errare]

I do not seem him retiring until next year, since he seems to have staffed up for another year already.

Even then it will change little. Trump will almost assuredly still be President all throughout 2018.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

No, because dems cave to pressure and republicans don't give a fuck.

The issue is more about math. The likelihood of Dems being able to gain 3 seats in 2018 in the senate is slim at best. If he can't hold on until then and the Dems don't get a majority, the next best option and only option to salvage the court is to increase the size of it.

The only way that could happen is if the Dems get the House, Senate, and Executive.

 

[roytheone]

A Supreme Court basically being a political institution of the right will pretty much ensure that America would no longer be a functional democracy since separation of power is one of the core principles of democracy. Seeing "the greatest democracy on earth" cease to be one will be a sad day.

 

[Dierce]

No. You don't open this Pandora's Box.

It has already been opened. Orange turd and republicans have destroyed the last bastion of political normalcy.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

He has staff for next year and has a few cases in the SC calender lined up this year that he specifically wants to oversee.

So like, let's calm down a bit, okay? He's not retiring this year.

 

[excelsiorlef]

No, because dems cave to pressure and republicans don't give a fuck.

I mean if they regain the Senate they can just do exactly what the GOP did to Garland but without control of the Senate there's nothing to cave to because there's nothing they could do.

 

[SpaceCadetKeon]

No. You don't open this Pandora's Box.

Why not? We're fucked otherwise, so why not go for it?

 

[Etrian Oddity]

And this is what happens when people stay home instead going out to vote.

gj Amurrca.

 

[Linkura]

Gonna get myself ready for this for real:

 

[commedieu]

He has staff for next year and has a few cases in the SC calender lined up this year that he specifically wants to oversee.

So like, let's calm down a bit, okay? He's not retiring this year.

It's a rumor.

I remember people saying calm down because rump wasn't going to win. Safe to face the possibility as to not be shocked if he has an illness or.. quits next year, or the year after.

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

Roe Vs Wade isn't the only thing a 6-3 court would do, friend.

Yeah hopefully the other rulings are more important to them but it may be too late then.

 

[excelsiorlef]

Yeah Roe v Wade is dead as soon as Kennedy is gone.

It's the biggest thing I was shouting during all the election year. Kennedy is the most powerful man in the US

 

[Cagey]

It has already been opened. Orange turd and republicans have destroyed the last bastion of political normalcy.

You don't understand the magnitude of the crisis that
you're advocating for.

9 becomes 13 becomes 15 becomes 21 very quickly. The parties will alternate. There will be no end in sight. The Court is an independent institution despite whatever snarky cynical comment a snarky cynic would like to make.

This would de facto end that and leave it to the whim of the ruling party to demand decisions with the threat of changing the composition to get the votes it wants. Which is precisely what FDR did and why it's not been ever considered since. It's true dictatorial power.

 

[cameron]

Helping drive the speculation, dozens of Kennedy's former clerks are traveling to Washington to participate in a private clerk reunion that occurs regularly -- and many of them wonder if it will be their last chance to meet with him while he is still on the bench.
Sources close to Kennedy say that he is seriously considering retirement, but they are unclear if it could occur as early as this term.

Clerk reunion was rescheduled to an earlier date. AP:

But Kennedy turns 81 next month and has been on the court for nearly 30 years. Several of his former law clerks have said they think he is contemplating stepping down in the next year or so. Kennedy and his clerks were gathering over the weekend for a reunion that was pushed up a year and helped spark talk he might be leaving the court.

"Soon we'll know if rumors of Kennedy's retirement are accurate," one former Kennedy clerk, George Washington University law professor Orin Kerr, said on Twitter Friday.

But I don't want to be pessimistic.

 

[suaveric]

Even then it will change little. Trump will almost assuredly still be President all throughout 2018.

And even if he's not, Pence isn't going to be picking moderates.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

It's a rumor.

I remember people saying calm down because rump wasn't going to win. Safe to face the possibility as to not be shocked if he has an illness or.. quits next year, or the year after.

Actions speak louder than rumors

Come on guys

He's going to staff up and request certain cases be heard this year that he's been waiting to hear and just be like "lol jk, nah man, I'm out!" Not at all. That's not how it works. The last SC to retire told Obama in early May and didn't go ahead and plan an entire year of being on the job and then decide a week before the start of the new SC year that he was done