WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Supreme Court Justice anthony kennedy He said Wednesday that he is troubled that partisanship seems to be “creeping into the courts” and is concerned about the country because the state of political discourse in this country has become so vile and vile.
Kennedy is more concerned about the tone of recent opinions than the outcome of the case, he said in an interview with The Associated Press in his courthouse office ahead of next week’s publication of his memoir. life, law, freedom”
“Judges have to resist thinking of themselves as partisan,” he said. “In our current debate, it seems like partisanship is creeping into the courtroom.”
He declined to identify the judge or the opinion, but at another point returned to the personal nature of some of the court’s opinions.
“Of course, when we disagree, we criticize the other person, but we criticize the opinion and the argument. We don’t criticize the author,” he said in an interview that lasted almost an hour. “And that point seems to have been reversed. Some of the recent opinions have been attacks on your colleagues and judges. I was surprised and very concerned.” 4 letter F word ” to the president in public. donald trumpKennedy said he is routinely uncomfortable with what he hears.
“I’m concerned. I’m worried. I’m disappointed,” President Kennedy said. “The rest of the world expects from us how free speech works, how democracy works, and in many ways they won’t be impressed by what they see,” he said. “I think our senior officials should enhance the substance and elegance of our country’s discourse.” 250th anniversary of the founding of the nation Kennedy, who will turn 89 next year, cast a gloomy eye on the future. “What’s going to happen with the next 250? I don’t really know. I don’t really know,” he said.
republican presidential candidate ronald reaganKennedy was the decisive vote in many of the court’s most influential cases, tilting it to the left. abortion and gay rights and with a gun campaign funds.
He has said little in public since retiring from the court in 2018.
This memoir is simon & schuster” explores his roots in Sacramento, California, before turning to his 43 years as a federal judge, including 30 years on the Supreme Court. Writer, Joan DidionKennedy said a childhood friend who passed away in 2021 saw some early drafts and offered words of encouragement.
The document was issued as President Kennedy continues to mourn the sudden death of his son Gregory in January. When the conversation turned to family, Kennedy pulled out a photo of his son and daughter-in-law on their wedding day nearly 30 years ago.
copy of justice Sonia Sotomayor’s The latest book, Just Shine!, was placed on the bookshelf, below a photo of my granddaughter who is a professional ballerina in New York.
After President Kennedy’s retirement and the death of a justice, the Supreme Court became decidedly more conservative. ruth bader ginsburg Two years later, it reversed several of his opinions, including a decision he co-authored in 1992 that preserved abortion rights.
“It was a close and difficult case. In my opinion, our previous decision was correct.”
In the same Mississippi case in 2022, the judge clarence thomas He suggested that Kennedy’s opinion giving constitutional protection to same-sex marriage should be next.
President Kennedy was uncomfortable discussing the case, saying he believed the ruling might survive because so many people depend on it and overturning it would be “deeply hurtful” to same-sex couples and their children.
Coincidentally, the court will soon consider an appeal from former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who is asking the justices to overturn the 2015 ruling. Obergefell vs. Hodges. While he was in prison, the court was not immune from personal criticism, but this was extremely rare. In his book, Kennedy talks about one of the trials: Antonin Scalia’s Although he voiced his opposition to the same-sex marriage lawsuit, the personal attacks in this lawsuit soured their relationship.
Mr. Scalia said he would rather “put his head in a bag” than join Mr. Kennedy’s opinion, and that Mr. Kennedy was not a real Westerner because “California doesn’t matter.”
Seven months later, Scalia visited President Kennedy in his office and apologized, ending with a hug. Scalia was about to leave on a hunting trip to Texas and told Kennedy it would be his last long trip. scalia died in texas Exactly one week later.
Kennedy’s views on Trump are difficult to pin down. Some passages in this book seem to have been written with him in mind.
“The Constitution fails when any branch of government takes the exercise of its powers to extremes,” Kennedy wrote.
In response to questions Wednesday, he said the president is among those who make disrespectful comments.
But when he wrote about Kennedy’s visit to the White House after telling his colleagues of his plans to retire, he described Trump as “courteous, sincere, and enthusiastic.”
He acknowledged that the White House consulted with him about President Trump’s choice of justice. Brett Kavanaugh and other judicial candidates.
But he said he had not discussed his plans with Trump or anyone else in the Republican administration in advance, and that the president had not made any effort to induce him to resign.
Kennedy also asked for clarification on remarks about Trump that were picked up by a microphone after the president’s address to Congress in March.
“Thank you for teaching young people to love America,” President Kennedy said.
He acknowledged the remark, even as he wondered how a seemingly private moment became public.
“I said that. Of course. I said that should be your primary mission,” President Kennedy said Wednesday.
Asked to assess how President Trump is doing in this regard, Kennedy responded, “Well, I’m not entirely sure.”
