[NeoCaveman]

He has been for the last few years, see Raich and Kelo.

[johnmecainrino]

Kennedy right now is the most powerful person in this country by far.

I hate Kennedy but Delay wasn't smart calling for his impeachment when Kennedy will be deciding the texas redistricting case.

[bmwcyle]

Slipping Kool Aid in his drink.

[xzins]

Stevens needs to go.

[Dog Gone]

It wasn't lost on me.

Kennedy is normally reliable, but not always. We'll have to live with that. The Supreme Court won't be a surefire lock on every case until we replace either Ginsburg or Stevens.

[PISANO]

Looks like Slate agrees with me.

See here

[aligncare]

Supreme Court decisions today reflect thirty years of liberal appointments.

[Clintonfatigued]

ANTHONY KENNEDY FOR RETIREMENT!

[Reagan Man]

If CJ Roberts can sweet talk Kennedy into joining the conservative opinion on certain issues he might otherwise tilt to left on, that'll be fine with me. I'd call that progess in the right direction.

[Wolfstar]

In her article, Ms. Dahlia Lithwick merely reaffirms what a number of FReepers observed and discussed over a week ago.

I posted the following on one of the live Alito hearing threads, and once more on another Alito-related thread. Feel free to use it elsewhere as needed.

Reliably conservative:
Chief Justice William Rehnquist
Justice Antonin Scalia
Justice Clarence Thomas

Swing (= unpredictable) votes:
Justice Anthony Kennedy
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

Reliably liberal:
Justice Stephen Breyer
Justice John Paul Stevens
Justice David Souter
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Too soon to tell:
Chief Justice John Roberts (replaced Rehnquist)
Soon-to-be Justice Samuel Alito (will replace O'Connor)

As the above shows, if Roberts and Alito prove to be reliable conservative votes, we have a 4-4 court with one swing vote, an improvement on the 3-4 Rehnquist court with two swing votes, but not a slam dunk for conservative issues.

For those who view the court not in terms of liberal vs. conservative, but in terms of small vs. big government tendencies, nothing in the new court makeup suggests it will begin to roll back the excesses of federal growth and misuse of the Commerce clause we've seen since at least the 1930's.

[kellynla]

waiting for Stevens to retire...one way or the other.
at 85; I expect GWB to be looking for a replacement within the next three years...

[samtheman]

But another key to understanding Kennedy's role as a swing voter is simpler: He just really, really likes the power.

If you care more about getting your name in the history books than you do defending the constitution, then you'll naturally drift towards Judicial Activism, which will make you famous and the hero of generations of leftist university historians to come.

[Always Right]

On the plus side, by age

Roberts -50 Conservative
Alito - 55 Conservative
Thomas - 57 Conservative
Souter - 66-6 Liberal
Bryer - 68 Liberal
Scalia - 69 Conservative
Kennedy - 69 Swing
Ginsburg - 72 Liberal
Stevens - 85 Liberal

Conservatives range from 50 to 69 with an average of 58, while Liberals range from 66 to 85 with an average age of 73. Conservatives are 15 years yonger than the liberals.

[Clump]

This is true. But our position is undoubtedly much stronger with Kennedy as the sole swing vote. With SDO, we had to get both swing voters to have a majority. It seemed that we would often lose one of them along the way, and end up on the losing side of some big 5-4 decisions. Let's look at some of theses key 5-4 cases, and where we would have come out had SDO or Kennedy ruled differently.

Since SDO is on her way out, let's start with where we may be headed without her. She has let us down;

1.Stenberg v. Carhart (2000)- SDO joined the liberal block in striking down Nebraska's ban on partial birth abortion.

2. In the affirmative action case out of Michigan she joined the liberals in upholding the use of race as a factor in college admissions.

3. SDO joined the liberals in upholding key parts of McCain-Feingold.

4. SDO has often provided the key in Establishment Clause cases. She has tamed down (slightly) the rabid hostility towards Christians from the left on the court, but she has been way off the mark. She has been a sure vote to remove "religious" displays.

Kennedy has been on the right side of those cases. I anticipate that we will see those precedents chipped away at over the next few years. But here is where our concern lies with Kennedy.

1. He joined the liberals in Kelo this last year (eminent domain case).

2. He looks like a sure vote on the gay issues that come before the court. This is based on Lawrence a couple of years back.

3. He left the reservation on the juvenile death penalty case a couple of years ago.

4. He has expresses a willingness to uphold restrictions on abortion, but has not been willing to overrule Roe. We will see how he handles his fellow Catholics when this comes up again. Also, I happen to think he could be persuaded here. He was sure pissed when the partial birth abortion ban was struck down(see his dissent in Carhart), and the majority used his majority opinion in Planned Parenthood as its basis. Scalia (in his own dissent) used the case as an opportunity to show why Planned Parenthood (and by extension Roe

[Soul Seeker]

After spending years claiming O'Connor was the swing vote standing between Liberals and tyranny, they now discover Kennedy.

Is it any wonder why they don't deserve attention

Most conservatives have been stating we need two more, that Alito is only the fourth. Liberals get hysterical for no reason.

[Tim n Texas]

Question: I'm not too familiar with the internal dynamics of the court.....what influence will Robert/Alito have over Kennedy. Could a stronger conservative block impart a greater influence on Justice Kennedy?

[Semper Paratus]

Anthony Kennedy—the new Sandra Day O'Connor

OK, so who is now the new Anthony Kennedy?

[zendari]

I love how Stevens, ginsberg, souter, breyer are referred to as "mdoerate to liberal". When are Scalia, thomas referred to as "moderate to conservative"?