Friday, December 15, 2017

Doug Jones’ Victory May Give Trump A Second Supreme Court Pick

 U.S. President Donald Trump listens as Justice Anthony Kennedy speaks before swearing in Judge Neil Gorsuch as an Associate Supreme Court Justice in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S. on April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Doug Jones’ victory in Tuesday’s special Senate election in Alabama may change Justice Anthony Kennedy’s calculus as he mulls retirement.

The race’s shock result has imperiled the Republican Senate majority ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, and with it the integrity of the judicial confirmation process, which appears nonfunctional under divided government.

Though the justice has recently told prospective clerks that he is considering retirement, the prospect of his departure seemed remote. In a political environment as volatile as this, his power as the Court’s swing vote is at its maximum. It seems counter intuitive that he would retire as his influence reaches its apex. What’s more, Kennedy has a high opinion of the Court’s capacity to bear moral clarity for a restless nation, making his continued service a matter of duty.

More @ Daily Caller

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