Bad news for Obama: Conservative Justice Kennedy tells pals he's in no rush to leave

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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...s__thats_.html

Bad news for Obama: Conservative Justice Kennedy tells pals he's in no rush to leave Supreme Court

BY Thomas M. Defrank
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF

Tuesday, July 6th 2010, 4:00 AM
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy (left) likely will be around to provide a fifth vote for the court's conservative bloc through the 2012 election, which is bad news for President Obama.

WASHINGTON - President Obama may get liberal Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court, but conservative swing-voter Anthony Kennedy says he's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Justice Kennedy, who turns 74 this month, has told relatives and friends he plans to stay on the high court for at least three more years - through the end of Obama's first term, sources said.

That means Kennedy will be around to provide a fifth vote for the court's conservative bloc through the 2012 presidential election. If Obama loses, Kennedy could retire and expect a Republican President to choose a conservative justice.

Kennedy, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, has been on the court 22 years. He has become a bit of a political nemesis at the White House for his increasing tendency to side with the court's four rock-ribbed conservative justices.

Without naming Kennedy, Obama was unusually critical of his majority opinion in the Citizens United case, handed down last January. That 5-4 decision struck down limits on contributions to political campaigns as an abridgement of free speech.

Obama called the ruling "a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power ... in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans."

He was so angry that he took the unusual step of blasting the decision in his Jan. 27 State of the Union address, with Kennedy and five other justices looking on.

The White House has made Citizens United a populist rallying cry for Democrats, who hope to cut into projected Republican gains in the November elections by painting the GOP as guardians of the rich and powerful.

With the retirement of fellow Californian and Stanford graduate Sandra Day O'Connor in 2006, Kennedy has inherited O'Connor's mantle as the court's swing vote.

His voting pattern suggests he's actually become a far more reliable vote for the conservatives.

A Supreme Court spokeswoman said Justice Kennedy would not comment.

tdefrank@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...#ixzz0suSgQjzW

[rdret1]

Good news for common sense.

[dadof18x'er]

Originally Posted by rdret1

Good news for common sense.

won't it be fun if he gets to hear the US vs Arizona case

[rdret1]

Originally Posted by dadof18x'er

won't it be fun if he gets to hear the US vs Arizona case

That entire case will be interesting, to say the least. Since it is a federal case, SCOTUS will hear it automatically. I would think the Obama administration would want to get it before the court before the Nov election.

[craigepo]

Judge Kennedy staying is big news. The makeup of the supreme court is amazingly important---Kennedy was seen as a "swing vote" for some time. That he is now a reliable conservative illustrates which way the court has moved.