Conservative Activists and Legal Experts React to Justice Kennedy’s Retirement
Chief Counsel and Policy Director of the Judicial Crisis Network, Carrie Severino:
“Justice Kennedy was a transformative justice during a period of great transition on the Court, demonstrating the incredible impact one justice can have. In cases like Obamacare, Heller, and Citizens United, Justice Kennedy was a passionate defender of individual liberty and the separation of powers. I want to thank him for his service to our country and I look forward to the nomination and confirmation of his successor.”
I’d guess that President Trump will announce his nominee in mid- or late July. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing could take place in late August (the Senate is set to remain in session in August), with a final Senate vote in early or mid-September. That would enable the new Justice to be on board in plenty of time for the Court’s next term, which opens on October 1.”
Mark W. Smith, (Member of the U.S. Supreme Court Bar, Constitutional attorney, Vice President of the New York City Federalist Society, and served on the Trump Presidential Transition Team):
“Justice Kennedy was in the majority in both the Heller and the McDonald decisions holding that the Second Amendment protects the individual right to bear arms. But the Supreme Court has been hesitant to push too far on questions of the constitutionality of various gun control laws such as assault weapon bans, high capacity magazine bans and limitations on conceal carry laws. President Trump should appoint another Originalist in the mode of Justice Scalia and Neil Gorsuch. By doing so, the Supreme Court can begin to expand on protections to gun owners and ensure that Second Amendment rights do not become second class constitutional rights. The Supreme Court should treat the Second Amendment with the same reverence as the First Amendment and as broadly as the First Amendment.”
Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund (TPPCF) Chairman Jenny Beth Martin:
“President Trump has done it once, and he will do it again by appointing another great justice to the high court. Each of the people on the President’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees is highly qualified, with a record of fairly applying the law and adhering to the Constitution as it was originally written and ratified. The American people have made clear their preference for judges who apply the law, rather than making up new law from the bench. This is an historic moment for President Trump and the Senate to work together to put another great justice on the bench.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins:
“The American people are looking for yet another Supreme Court nominee in the mold of Justice Scalia as President Trump promised and delivered in Justice Gorsuch. We are confident the president will choose a justice who simply decides the cases before them, as the Constitution intends.”
