On Wednesday afternoon, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement announcement triggered a seismic legal and political tsunami and, as expected, some at CNN didn’t take it very well, fretting the loss of Kennedy as a “moderating force” who legalized sam-sex marriage, kept abortion legal, and saved affirmative action.
In addition, one guest and former clerk lambasted Kennedy for his “extraordinary imprudent” move to retire with President Donald Trump in office.
Legal correspondent Jessica Schneider correctly summed this up as “huge” and “significant” then noted that Kennedy has been “this centrist moderating force and with President Trump in office and his recent appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch, that’s taken the court in that conservative realm, President Trump will get the chance to appoint a new justice here.”
Schneider then noted that “in this past term, we have seen I think about 19 cases that were 5-4 decisions” and with “Justice Kennedy serving as the swing vote in many of them, but this will really solidify once President Trump gets the chance to nominate another Justice” who could be “an extremely conservative justice” like Neil Gorsuch.
Eye-roll. The liberal media always love to play this labeling game with those on the right, but far less on the left.
“So Justice Kennedy, he served as this moderating voice, this swing vote. He didn't like to be known as the swing vote, but he was. And now he is retiring,” she added.
Chief political analyst Gloria Borger fretted that “[t]his could potentially transform the court for generations and, you know, when you think of Justice Kennedy, you do think of someone who is a moderate, but his vote was crucial in a few areas” like “[s]ame-sex marriage, access to abortion and affirmative action.”
Going to Supreme Court reporter Joan Biskupic, host Brooke Baldwin instinctively wondered if Kennedy leaving would cause the Court to “further tilt to the right.”
Biskupic responded that she “cannot overstate the significance, Brooke” and marks an even bigger retirement than when Sandra Day O’Connor left the Court when “she was the center of that Court.”
“[I]t’s really a blockbuster and exactly what Gloria and your other guests have said, it really makes a difference that Donald Trump is getting this nomination because — well, okay, you've been through the, you know, gay rights, affirmative action, death penalty issues. Justice Kennedy has been key,” Biskupic added.
Up next and most upset was guest and former Kennedy clerk Joshua Matz, who unloaded at Kennedy for leaving despite being “someone who cares a great deal about the stability of the democratic system and the institutional legitimacy of the Supreme Court” heading into “a midterm election that otherwise would have been a referendum on the extraordinary and, in my view, deeply disturbing developments of the first two years of the Trump administration and he just dropped a supreme court-sized nuclear bomb into the middle of that electoral landscape.”
Matz wasn’t done, calling Kennedy’s decision “extraordinary imprudent” to do this with Trump and the Republican Party in power:
And instead of waiting a year, he made the decision to retire at a moment where I think many people will remark could serve to the maximum electoral advantage of Republicans, you know, who will now either have the chance to confirm a justice right before the midterms or to go into the midterms with an open seat which has historically motivated their base a great deal and so I don't know. I think the timing of the decision — I don't think that was his intent, but I do think it’s a likely consequence and in that respect I think it was extraordinarily imprudent of him and it will have lasting consequences far beyond the court itself.
To see the relevant transcript from June 27's CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin, click “expand.”
CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin
June 27, 2018
2:05 p.m. Eastern
JESSICA SCHNEIDER: This is huge. This is significant, Brooke. We've seen Justice Kennedy throughout all of these years ever of service, on the bench, at the Supreme Court, this centrist moderating force and with President Trump in office and his recent appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch, that’s taken the court in that conservative realm, President Trump will get the chance to appoint a new justice here and with, you know, just in the past — in this past term, we have seen I think about 19 cases that were 5-4 decisions. Justice Kennedy serving as the swing vote in many of them, but this will really solidify once President Trump gets the chance to nominate another Justice. If he is successful in nominating an extremely conservative justice as he did with Neil Gorsuch, this will give the court a real tilt, 5-4 for the conservatives. So Justice Kennedy, he served as this moderating voice, this swing vote. He didn't like to be known as the swing vote, but he was. And now he is retiring.
(....)
GLORIA BORGER: Well, look. This could potentially transform the court for generations and , you know, when you think of Justice Kennedy, you do think of someone who is a moderate, but his vote was crucial in a few areas. And let me just tick them off. Same-sex marriage, access to abortion and affirmative action, okay? So those are three areas which he was a very key and deciding voting and now with his retirement, of course, the President is going to get an opportunity to name another conservative to the bench. It will — it will cause an uproar I can tell you on Capitol Hill because if you will recall last time the rules were changed a bit to confirm Gorsuch and you're heading in to the midterm elections here, Brooke, and so, once again, the supreme court will become a huge issue you for both Democrats and Republicans.
(....)
BALDWIN: And just if you can, do we know, Joan, she's nodding, yes I have — the significance of this retirement and the further tilt to the right of this Court?
JOAN BISKUPIC: I cannot overstate the significance, Brooke. You know, back in 2005 when Sandra Day O’Connor announced her retirement on July 1, it was a big deal because she was the center of that court and this is even bigger frankly given the political situation. You know, I was in that court room this morning. I actually wonder if his colleagues knew when they took the bench because there was a certain casualness to them, but Justice Kennedy's wife Mary Kennedy was in the room. Some family members seemed to be and he must have told them at lunch, but this was one heck of a well kept secret despite all the rumors we've been hearing. So it is — it’s really a blockbuster and exactly what Gloria and your other guests have said, it really makes a difference that Donald Trump is getting this nomination because — well, okay, you've been through the, you know, gay rights, affirmative action, death penalty issues. Justice Kennedy has been key and what’s different this time around is that the Senate has a Republican majority and the filibuster rules have been changed. It’s not like it was when Merrick Garland was nominated by President Obama. It’s going to be an easier time frankly for the Republicans to get their appointee in place.
(....)
JOSHUA MATZ: What I actually do find kind of amazing is that Justice Kennedy is someone who cares a great deal about the stability of the democratic system and the institutional legitimacy of the Supreme Court and, you know, we're coming up on a midterm election that otherwise would have been a referendum on the extraordinary and, in my view, deeply disturbing developments of the first two years of the Trump administration and he just dropped a supreme court-sized nuclear bomb into the middle of that electoral landscape.
BALDWIN: Yes, he did.
MATZ: And instead of waiting a year, he made the decision to retire at a moment where I think many people will remark could serve to the maximum electoral advantage of Republicans, you know, who will now either have the chance to confirm a justice right before the midterms or to go into the midterms with an open seat which has historically motivated their base a great deal and so I don't know. I think the timing of the decision — I don't think that was his intent, but I do think it’s a likely consequence and in that respect I think it was extraordinarily imprudent of him and it will have lasting consequences far beyond the court itself.
