Justice Kennedy deserves this nasty, unflinching sendoff

Anthony Kennedy was a horrible justice, and his last decision was his worst

IAN MILLHISER JUN 27, 2018, 2:01 PM

One of my favorite genres of writing is the charitable obituary written about a political opponent. My remembrance of Judge Robert Bork, the conservative icon President Ronald Reagan tried and failed to put on the Supreme Court, highlighted his more admirable calls for judicial restraint. My obituary of Justice Antonin Scalia was titled “In Praise of Scalia.”

I want to establish these facts up front as I begin my obituary of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s judicial career, because what follows will not be especially charitable. Justice Kennedy was a Cadillac’s intellect in a Lamborghini’s job. His writing ranged from needlessly flowery to completely incoherent. And, while his views sometimes placed him to the left of men like Scalia and Bork, his “liberal” opinions were frequently his most incomprehensible.

Kennedy could have been a perfectly adequate lower court judge, but he was in over his head at the Supreme Court. And, for that reason, his most celebrated opinions will be very easy to dismantle.

Most of the time, of course, Kennedy was also no friend to liberals. He authored the Court’s Citizens United decision, joined its decision hobbling much of the Voting Rights Act, and he voted to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act. The entire presidency of George W. Bush might have been avoided but for Kennedy’s vote in Bush v. Gore. And, in a moment when liberal democracy itself is threatened by an authoritarian president, Kennedy decided that it would be a good idea to give that president another seat on the Supreme Court.

https://thinkprogress.org/kennedy-was-a-bad-justice-76e464024d78/