Retired Justice Anthony Kennedy’s memoir, Life, Law and Liberty, comes out today, Oct. 14…. Throughout his time on the court, Kennedy wrote some of its most important cases. In the book he discusses several of these.
Citizens United:
Perhaps none of Kennedy’s opinions are as controversial (at least on the left) as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.….The justice was particularly disturbed by the government’s position that “if there was an upcoming political campaign and a book was being published, or a movie was being produced, and it was critical of a candidate, then it could stop publication if funded by a corporation.” To Kennedy, “[i]n these campaign finance cases, the voters are the ones with the true power. If they see money coming into campaigns from sources they do not like, they can demand disclosure, and they can choose to vote against the candidate.”….
Bush v. Gore:
When asked about Bush v. Gore, Scalia would tell critics to “get over it.” In his book, Kennedy is considerably less abrasive (shocking, I know). He notes that the court “had only twenty-four hours to write, vote upon, and issue opinions in [the] case.” He further stresses that it was integral to focus on the legal issues, and to have his “clerks know that for me the fact that Gore or Bush might prevail was not relevant in any political or practical sense.” Rather, “[w]hat mattered was for the Court to reach the right result and show that it had considered the legal issues, not which candidate was our preferred choice.”