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Justice Kennedy just announced his retirement
Very interesting. There has been debate, since McDonald, as to whether other members of the Court were unsure of his willingness to go beyond the basic Heller right, and whether that why why the Court was turning down otherwise quite impressive petitions for cert. Maybe so, but I've always wondered if it was a different vote that they were unsure of. Kennedy had, after all, volunteered for a heavy weapons platoon assignment in the Army, and had taught a seminar class on the 2A long, long before Heller.
Prepare for a bruising battle on this nomination. The last one didn't change the balance of power any, a conservative replacement for a conservative. This one will change it some. Kennedy usually voted with the conservative wing, but shifted to the liberal one on some issues (most notably things to do with gay rights), so for people who see those issues as important, his replacement by a person who consistently goes with the conservative wing will be a complete and dramatic change in the Court's composition. I suspect those issues will predominate, not the new nominee's 2A stance.
But for that stance, give us Hardiman of the Third Circuit, who strongly dissented from a ruling upholding NJ's permit law, and suggested that "shall issue" permitting and/or legal open carry were necessary to pass constitutional muster.
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Kennedy almost certainly never voted for cert after McDonald.
I'm not sure where I heard it from, but I was told Scalia had to write the Heller decision with "reasonable restrictions" in order to get Kennedy on board.
"Both sides would have been worried about "loosing all the marbles", with the pro-gun justices worried that if he flips, the Second Amendment gets watered down to nothing."
We've been wondering if Roberts is truly pro-gun since his rulings on the Affordable Care Act. Kennedy may not be our only problem.
"wondering if Roberts is truly pro-gun since his rulings on the Affordable Care Act"
I think the ACA rulings were, say, compelled by compromising material collected by Deep State.
I look forward to the day when Ruth Bader Ginsburg leaves. Retirement is unlikely. She will probably go only when carried feet first from the building.
"compelled by compromising material collected by Deep State. "
Which would be...?
.... a conspiracy theory.
I've vacillated between Roberts and Kennedy as the reason for the boycott on 2d A cases. We'll know if it was Kennedy in 12 months.
Maybe it was both Roberts and Kennedy.
I've been of the mind that both sides were gun-shy because of Kennedy.
Either side, sans Kennedy, had the 4 justices needed to grant cert, but I think that neither side was confident where he would come down on things like assault weapons or concealed carry. Both sides would have been worried about "loosing all the marbles", with the pro-gun justices worried that if he flips, the Second Amendment gets watered down to nothing, and the anti-gun justices worried that if he votes with the pro-gun justices, a lot of existing laws in states like New York, New Jersey, and California will have to be struck down.
Hopefully this will break that deadlock, with a solid pro-Second Amendment justice.