Fie on Justice Kennedy

Wendy Long at Bench Memos:

"At the epicenter of this problem is Justice Anthony Kennedy, who manages to make the entire Court look like a totally political body. His concurring opinions of breathtaking lawlessness and irrationality, siding with the liberal activist wing of the Court, somehow taint the whole institution... The broad 'swing vote' brush with which he paints is covering over more and more of the Constitution."

She continues:

"The replacement of Justice O'Connor with Justice Alito has made a solid block of four whose stock-in-trade is the law: its text, its principles, and its history. But instead of four — the Chief Justice, and Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito — there could have been today a majority of six such Justices, if only well-intentioned former Republican Presidents, and their legal advisers, had inisisted [sic] on judicial nominees with a demonstrated public record of adherence to the law and fidelity to judicial restraint and the principles of the Constitution."

As mentioned in the comments section here earlier today, were he still with us I suspect President Reagan would freely admit that his appointee, Anthony Kennedy, was a mistake.

I had been hopeful 86-year-old Justice Stevens would announce his retirement this week, but thus far no announcement appears to be forthcoming.