Anthony McLeod Kennedy
Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office  February 18, 1988
Nominated by	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr.
Born	July 23, 1936 (1936-07-23) (age 71) Sacramento, California
Spouse	Mary Davis Kennedy
Alma mater	Stanford University
Religion	Roman Catholic

Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) has been an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court since 1988. Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Lewis Franklin Powell Jr ( September 19, 1907 &ndash August 25, 1998) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Events 1632 - Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe France. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Alma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother" It was used in Ancient Rome as a title for the mother Goddess, and in Medieval Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in Events 1632 - Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe France. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. Appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, he acts as the Court's swing vote in many cases, and as a result has held special prominence in many politically charged 5-4 decisions.

Personal history

Kennedy was born in Sacramento, California. Kennedy, a Roman Catholic, married Mary Davis, with whom he had three children. He is not related to the Kennedy family of American politics. The Kennedy family are a family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P

He received his B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University in 1958. Political science is a branch of Social sciences that deals with the theory and practice of Politics and the description and analysis of Political systems Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in He also spent part of his undergraduate time at the London School of Economics before earning an LL.B from Harvard Law School in 1961. The London School of Economics and Political Science, more commonly referred to as The London School of Economics or LSE, is a specialist college of the The Bachelor of Laws (abbreviated LLB, LLB or rarely LlB) is an undergraduate or bachelor degree in law offered in most Common law Harvard Law School (also known as Harvard Law or HLS) is one of the professional Graduate schools of Harvard University.

Kennedy was in private practice in San Francisco, California from 1961-1963, then took over his father's practice in Sacramento, California from 1963-1975. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city From 1965 to 1988, he was a Professor of Constitutional Law at University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and currently continues teaching law students (including legal seminars during McGeorge's European summer sessions in Salzburg, Austria). The University of the Pacific is a private university in Stockton California, originally affiliated with the United Methodist Church. McGeorge School of Law is a private ABA -accredited law school in the Oak Park neighborhood of the city of Sacramento, California, commonly known He remains Pacific McGeorge's longest-serving active faculty member.

Kennedy has served in numerous positions during his career, including the California Army National Guard in 1961 and the board of the Federal Judicial Center from 1987-1988. The California Army National Guard is a component of the California National Guard, the United States Army and the United States National Guard Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts It was established by an Act of Congress ( in 1967 at the recommendation He also served on two committees of the Judicial Conference of the United States: the Advisory Panel on Financial Disclosure Reports and Judicial Activities (subsequently renamed the Advisory Committee on Codes of Conduct) from 1979-1987, and the Committee on Pacific Territories from 1979-1990, which he chaired from 1982-1990. The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal He was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Gerald Ford in 1975. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a federal court with Appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr (July 14 1913 December 26 2006 was the thirty-eighth President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 and the fortieth Vice President

Supreme Court tenure

Ideology

Republican and conservative, Kennedy’s tenure on the Court has seen him take a somewhat mixed path. Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined Kennedy's philosophy seems to be conservative and libertarian. Libertarianism is a term used by a broad spectrum of political philosophies which prioritize individual Liberty and seek to minimize or even abolish the While Kennedy has joined the conservative wing of the Court in most cases such as Stenberg v. Carhart, he has confounded constitutional law scholars by often forgoing conventional methods of explaining his holding and instead relying on vivid prose and unusual philosophy. Stenberg Attorney General of Nebraska et al v Carhart, 530 US Constitutional law is the study of foundational or basic Laws of nation states and other political organizations Decisions in which Kennedy has mentioned European law have been frequently criticized, particularly by political conservatives. ^[1][2][3]

Kennedy will probably be remembered historically along with Sandra Day O'Connor as one of two swing voters in many 5-4 decisions during the Rehnquist Court. Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American Jurist. On issues of religion he holds to a far less separationist reading of the Establishment Clause than did Sandra Day O'Connor favoring a "Coercion Test" that he detailed in County of Allegheny v. ACLU. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment refers to the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating that " Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American Jurist. In County of Allegheny v ACLU, 492 US 573 (1989 the US Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of two recurring holiday displays located on

Kennedy supports a broad reading of the "liberty" protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which means he supports a constitutional right to abortion in principle, though he has voted to uphold several restrictions on that right, including laws to prohibit partial-birth abortions. Due process (more fully due process of law) is the principle that a person has a right to receive notice and be heard in an orderly proceeding in order to protect his or her The Fourteenth Amendment ( Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution is one of the post- Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, first Intact dilation and extraction ( IDX or intact D&X) also known as intact dilation and evacuation ( intact D&E) dilation and extraction He is "tough on crime" and opposes creating constitutional restrictions on the police, especially in Fourth Amendment cases involving searches for illegal drugs, although there are some exceptions, such as his concurrence in Ferguson v. City of Charleston. Ferguson v City of Charleston,, is a United States Supreme Court decision that found Medical University of South Carolina 's policy regarding involuntary He opposes affirmative action as promoting stereotypes of minorities. Affirmative action in the United States|Employment equity (Canada|Reservation in India|Numerus clausus The term affirmative action describes many policies aimed at a historically He also takes a very broad view of constitutional protection for speech under the First Amendment, invalidating a congressional law prohibiting "virtual" child pornography in the 2002 decision, Ashcroft v. ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union v Ashcroft, 535 US 564 ( 2002) (also called Ashcroft v ^[4]

Abortion

In 1992, he joined Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's controlling plurality opinion in the case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), which re-affirmed in principle (though not in many details) the Roe v. Wade decision recognizing the right to abortion under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Kennedy initially voted to uphold the restrictions on abortion at issue and considered going as far as to overturn Roe but subsequented switched that aspect of his vote during the consideration of Casey). Planned Parenthood v Casey, 505 US 833 ( 1992) was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Constitutionality Roe v Wade, 410 US 113 (1973 is a controversial United States Supreme Court case that resulted in a Landmark decision regarding Due process (more fully due process of law) is the principle that a person has a right to receive notice and be heard in an orderly proceeding in order to protect his or her The Fourteenth Amendment ( Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution is one of the post- Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, first ^[5] The plurality opinion, signed jointly by three justices appointed by the anti-Roe presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, ignited a firestorm of criticism from conservatives. George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12 1924 served as the forty-first President of the United States from 1989 to 1993 In later abortion decisions, it became apparent that Kennedy thought Casey had narrowed the Roe decision and allowed more restrictions. Because of a changed composition on the Court under President Clinton, Kennedy was no longer the fifth vote to strike down abortion restrictions. Thus, O'Connor became the Justice who defined the meaning of Casey in subsequent cases while Kennedy was relegated to dissents in trying to explain what he thought the Casey holding meant. For example, Kennedy dissented in the 2000 decision of Stenberg v. Carhart, which struck down laws criminalizing partial-birth abortion. Stenberg Attorney General of Nebraska et al v Carhart, 530 US Intact dilation and extraction ( IDX or intact D&X) also known as intact dilation and evacuation ( intact D&E) dilation and extraction

After the judicial appointments of President Bush, Justice Kennedy again became the needed fifth vote to strike down abortion restrictions. Since Kennedy's conception of abortion rights is more narrow than O'Connor's this has led to a slightly more lenient review of abortion restrictions since 2006. Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in 2007's Gonzales v. Carhart which held that a federal law criminalizing partial birth abortion did not violate the principles of Casey because it did not impose an "undue burden. Gonzales v Carhart, 550 US ___ ( 2007) is a United States Supreme Court case which upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of " The decision did not, expressly, overrule Stenberg although many commentators see it having that effect. [1]

Gay rights and homosexuality

Kennedy has often taken a strong stance in favor of expanding Constitutional rights to cover sexual orientation. He wrote the Court's opinion in the controversial 1996 case, Romer v. Evans, invalidating a provision in the Colorado Constitution denying homosexuals the right to bring local discrimination claims. Romer v Evans, 517 US 620 ( 1996) was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with civil rights and state laws See also State of Colorado The Constitution of the US State of Colorado provides for three branches of government the legislative, the executive In 2003, he authored the Court's opinion Lawrence v. Texas which invalidated criminal prohibitions against homosexual sodomy under the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution, overturning the Court's previous contrary ruling in 1986's Bowers v. Hardwick. Lawrence v Texas, 539 US 558 ( 2003) was a landmark United States Supreme Court case Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. Sodomy (ˈsɒdəmi is a term used today predominantly in Law (derived from traditional Christian usage to describe the act of Anal intercourse, Oral intercourse Due process (more fully due process of law) is the principle that a person has a right to receive notice and be heard in an orderly proceeding in order to protect his or her The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. Bowers v Hardwick,, was a United States Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of a Georgia Sodomy law that criminalized In doing so, however, he was very careful to limit the extent of the opinion, declaring that the case did not involve whether the government must give formal recognition to any relationship that homosexual persons seek to enter. In both cases, he sided with the more liberal members of the Court. Lawrence also controversially referenced international law in justifying its result. International law is the term commonly used for referring to the system of implicit and explicit agreements that bind together nation-states in adherence to recognized values and standards Kennedy voted to uphold the Boy Scouts of America's organizational right to ban homosexuals from being scoutmasters in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale in 2000. The Boy Scouts of America ( BSA) is the largest youth organization in the United States with over five million Boy Scouts of America et al v Dale,, was a case of the Supreme Court of the United States overturning the New Jersey Supreme Court 's application of the

Capital punishment

Kennedy has generally voted to restrict the use of the death penalty. Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. With the Court's majority in Atkins v. Virginia and Roper v. Simmons he held unconstitutional the execution of the mentally ill and those under 18 at the time of the crime. Atkins v Virginia,, is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 6-3 that executing the Mentally retarded violates the Eighth Roper v Simmons, was a decision in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that it is unconstitutional to impose Capital punishment for crimes However in Kansas v. Marsh, he declined to join the dissent, which questioned the overall "soundness" of the existing capital punishment system. Kansas v Marsh, 548 US 163 (2006 is a case decided by the United States Supreme Court. His opinion for the Court in Roper, as in Lawrence, made extensive reference to international law, drawing the ire of then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay who called Kennedy's opinion "incredibly outrageous" but stopped short of calling for his impeachment. International law is the term commonly used for referring to the system of implicit and explicit agreements that bind together nation-states in adherence to recognized values and standards Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door (private Caucus. Thomas Dale DeLay (born April 8 1947 is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Sugar Land, Texas. Impeachment is the first of two stages in a specific process for a legislative body to forcibly remove a Government official

Other issues

On the other hand, Kennedy has joined with Court majorities in decisions favoring states' rights and invalidating federal and state affirmative action programs when they required racial discriminating against any race including whites. States' rights refers to the idea in US politics and constitutional law, that U Affirmative action in the United States|Employment equity (Canada|Reservation in India|Numerus clausus The term affirmative action describes many policies aimed at a historically He ruled with the majority on Equal Protection grounds in the controversial 2000 Bush v. Gore case that ceased continuing recounts in the 2000 presidential election and ended the legal challenge to the election of President George W. Bush. Bush v Gore,, was a United States Supreme Court case decided on December 12, 2000. The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Democratic candidate Al Gore, then Vice President, and Republican George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States.

In the 2005 Gonzales v. Raich case, he joined the liberal members of the Court (along with conservative Justice Scalia) in permitting the federal government to prohibit the use of medical marijuana, even in states in which it is legal. Gonzales v Raich (previously Ashcroft v Raich) 545 US 1 (2005 was a case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled on Medical cannabis refers to the use of the Cannabis plant as a physician-recommended Herbal therapy as well as synthetic THC and Cannabinoids Several weeks later, in the controversial case of Kelo v. City of New London (2005), he joined the four more liberal justices in supporting the local government's power to take private property for economic development through the use of eminent domain. Kelo v City of New London, 545 US 469 (2005 was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States involving the use of Eminent domain

Kennedy has been active off of the bench as well, calling for reform of overcrowded American prisons in a speech before the American Bar Association. Prisons in the United States are operated under strict authority of both the federal and state governments as Incarceration is a Concurrent power The American Bar Association ( ABA) founded August 21 1878 is a voluntary Bar association of Lawyers and law students which is not specific He spends his summers in Salzburg, Austria, where he teaches international and American law at the University of Salzburg for the McGeorge School of Law international program and often attends the large yearly international judges conference held there. is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich McGeorge School of Law is a private ABA -accredited law school in the Oak Park neighborhood of the city of Sacramento, California, commonly known Defending his use of international law, Kennedy told the September 12, 2005 issue of The New Yorker, "Why should world opinion care that the American Administration wants to bring freedom to oppressed peoples? Is that not because there’s some underlying common mutual interest, some underlying common shared idea, some underlying common shared aspiration, underlying unified concept of what human dignity means? I think that’s what we’re trying to tell the rest of the world, anyway. The New Yorker is an American Magazine that publishes reportage commentary criticism essays fiction satire cartoons and poetry ”

References

External links

• "Unenumerated Rights and the Dictates of Judicial Restraint." Address to the Canadian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, Stanford University. Palo Alto, California. July 24 - Aug. 1, 1986.
• "Kennedy's Benchmarks" by Mark Trapp, American Spectator (July 14, 2004).
• Transcript of Senate Confirmation Hearing, 1987.
• Supreme Court Research Guide and Bibliography: Anthony M. Kennedy
• Collection of notable statements by Anthony Kennedy.
• Jonah Goldberg, "Justice Kennedy's Mind: Where the Constitution resides," 2005. Jonah Jacob Goldberg (born March 21, 1969) is an American syndicated columnist and author
• Supreme court official bio (PDF)
• Jeffrey Toobin, "Swing Shift: How Anthony Kennedy’s passion for foreign law could change the Supreme Court," New Yorker (2005).