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For other people of the same name, see Anthony Kennedy (disambiguation) . Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23 , 1936 ) has been an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court since 1988. With the replacement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor with Justice Samuel Alito in January of 2006 , Justice Kennedy is widely considered to possibly be the new pivotal swing justice and could be the 5th vote in many future 5-4 decisions. EARLY LIFE Kennedy was born in Sacramento, California . Kennedy, a Roman Catholic, married Mary Davis, with whom he has three children. He has no relation to the famous Kennedy Family of American politics. He received his B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University , with spending part of his undergraduate time at the London School Of Economics , and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School . He was in private practice in San Francisco, California from 1961-1963, as well as in Sacramento, California from 1963-1975. From 1965 to 1988, he was a Professor of Constitutional Law at McGeorge School Of Law , University Of The Pacific . He has served in numerous positions during his career, including the California by President Gerald Ford in 1975. SUPREME COURT TENURE In 1987, Associate Justice Lewis Powell retired. President Ronald Reagan first nominated Robert Bork to replace him. Bork was viewed as too Conservative by the Democratic Senate , and he was not confirmed. Reagan then nominated Douglas H. Ginsburg , but Ginsburg withdrew his name amid reports of substantial prior Marijuana use. Finally, Reagan nominated Kennedy, and after being confirmed 97-0 by the Senate he took his seat February 18 , 1988 . Ideology Although appointed by a President who was both Republican and conservative, Kennedy’s tenure on the court has seen him take a mixed path. While Kennedy has joined the conservative wing of the Court in most cases such as '' Stenberg V. Carhart '', '' Bush V. Gore '', '' United States V. Lopez '', '' McConnell V. FEC '', '' Gratz V. Bollinger '' and '' Grutter V. Bollinger '', he voted with the liberal bloc in the cases of '' Romer V. Evans '', '' Lawrence V. Texas '', '' Ashcroft V. ACLU '', '' Roper V. Simmons '', '' Gonzales V. Raich '', '' Kelo V. City Of New London '', and '' Gonzales V. Oregon ''. At the same time, he also frustrates some constitutional law scholars by often foregoing conventional methods of explaining his holding and instead relying on vivid prose and unusual philosophy. Decisions in which Kennedy has mentioned European law have been criticized by many. All these factors considered, 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. Kennedy's views on issues are fairly consistent. He 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 Abortion s. He is " Tough On Crime " and opposes creating constitutional restrictions on the police, especially in Fourth Amendment cases involving searches for illegal drugs. He opposes Affirmative Action as promoting stereotypes of minorities. 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 2002's '' Ashcroft V. ACLU '' {Link without Title} . Abortion In 1992, Kennedy joined O'Connor and David Souter to form the troika who delivered the 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 but switched his vote during the consideration of ''Casey''). The plurality opinion, signed jointly by three justices appointed by the pro-life presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush , ignited a firestorm of criticism from conservatives. Kennedy, however, dissented in 2000's '' Stenberg V. Carhart '', which struck down laws criminalizing Partial-birth Abortion . It was widely rumored that both Anthony Kennedy and David Souter originally planned on voting to Overturn Roe v. Wade but changed their minds in the eleventh hour after discovering that O'Connor would not. Gay rights Kennedy has often voted on the side of Gay Rights . 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. In 2003, he authored the court's opinion '' Lawrence V. Texas '' which invalidated criminal prohibitions against Homosexual Sodomy under the United States Constitution (overturning the Court's previous contrary ruling in 1986's '' Bowers V. Hardwick '') in an opinion filled with passionate rhetoric. In both cases, he sided with the more Liberal members of the Court. ''Lawrence'' also controversially referenced International Law in justifying its result. On the other hand, he voted to uphold the Boy Scouts Of America 's ban on gay scoutmasters in '' Boy Scouts Of America V. Dale '' in 2000. Capital punishment Kennedy has also taken a somewhat liberal approach to issues involving the Death Penalty . In 2002, he joined a 6-3 opinion ('' Atkins V. Virginia '') declaring the execution of the mentally ill to be unconstitutional. He also wrote the opinion of the court in '' Roper V. Simmons '' (2005) invalidating the execution of felons who were under 18 at time of the crime. His opinion made extensive reference to International Law , drawing the ire of conservatives. A month later, then- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay called Kennedy's work "incredibly outrageous", but stopped short of calling for his Impeachment . Other issues On the other hand, Kennedy has joined with Court majorities in decisions favoring States' Rights and Capital Punishment and invalidating federal and state Affirmative Action programs. Despite his views on states' right, he ruled with the majority in the controversial 2000 '' Bush V. Gore '' case that ceased continuing recounts in the 2000 Presidential Election and ensured the victory of President George W. Bush , a move that was considered Conservative -leaning by some. In the recent '' Gonzales V. Raich '' case, he joined the liberal members of the court (along with Justice Scalia) in permitting the federal government to prohibit the use of Medical Marijuana , even in states in which it is legal, thus invalidating a California law that made the use of medical marijuana legal. 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 right to take private property for economic development through 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 . 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. Defending his use of international law, Kennedy told the Sept. 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.” EXTERNAL LINKS
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