It is All in the Timing
In his editorial “Say Hello to Your Boy. A Special Guy,” Josh Marshall at TPM had this to say:
“When I first read the Times story I wasn’t sure whether the younger Kennedy (Justin), whose title was Managing Director and Global Head of Real Estate Capital Markets, would have been someone to actually make loans to someone like Trump as opposed to overseeing more complex or synthetic efforts like mortgage backed securities and such. But it turns out he definitely was. The FT says Kennedy was ‘one of Mr. Trump’s most trusted associates over a 12-year spell at Deutsche.’ A review of Kennedy’s bio suggests those twelve years were 1997 through 2009 – key years for Trump.”
Other presidents and their staff have lobbied SCOTUS justices to see if retirement was being thought of by them. I do not recall any of the justice’s family having a business relationship with the president pre-presidency and perhaps others who are closer to the courts can offer up more information. “During Justin Kennedy’s tenure, Deutsche Bank became Trump’s most important lender, dispensing well over $1 billion in loans to him for the renovation and construction of skyscrapers in New York and Chicago at a time other mainstream banks were wary of doing business with him because of his troubled business history.”
The loans occurred when other banks felt Trump and his businesses were too much of a liability with his multiple bankruptcies. Deutsche Bank (holding company) was also one of several banks which was also placed under tighter scrutiny because of its past practices. Most recently, Deutsche Bank failed a Fed stress test.
Even though I disagree with some of his opinions, I would not call Justice Anthony Kennedy a fool. He is an intelligent man who has swung the court in the direction he wishes it to go with each of his votes. Given that, he also knows his retirement from SCOTUS will have an adverse impact upon the citizens of this nation which will result from the candidate Mr. Trump selects to replace him. Justice Kennedy simply does not care and his timing was intentional.
As I indicated elsewhere, he is clearly responsible for the timing and thus for the result should Democrats take over the Senate.
Jack:
Just backing you up. I know you said it. It would be interesting if this was also tied to his son.
Yeah, the situation with the son smells bad, particularly with the timing of the resignation.
If even a smidgen of this is true as being exposed at TPM by Josh Marshall, it will cast a stain on Kennedy’s legacy far greater than leaving the Court at this period in time.
So as a leftist, I’m supposed to care that a right wing reactionary who was put on the court by Reagan, authored the hideous Citizen’s United decision that will likely be the final nail in the coffin of American democracy, voted to install Bush over Gore as president by judicial fiat and is a fanatical supporter of the 2nd Amendment is retiring?
Hope the evil old bastard doesn’t let the door hit him on the rear end on the way out.
The man is 81 and likley tired. He has earned his pension. Perhaps even he has the hint of a fatal disease and wants to spend the last years of his life taking it easy. It seems some people try to find a conspiracy under every rock just like folks did during prior administrations.
Lyle:
Ginsburg is 85 and understands the danger of retiring now, the impact of her retirement on the nation, and she refuses to retire much less tolerate Trump’s pronounced racism. She is a friend of Kennedy’s and had talked to him about retirement under Obama (mistook it for Chemerinsky earlier). Kennedy’s retirement is purposeful without regard for the citizenry of this nation, women’s rights, gay rights, etc. and in favor of ideological politics. This is purposeful and meant to harm.
He goes off to a nice retirement and many of the decisions he helped to decide are now in peril. He knows what he did.
Karl,
Citizens United will be remedied harmless and maybe even helpful once we restore German level labor union density on this side of the Atlantic. Late dean of the Washington press corps, David Broder, told a young reporter that when he came to DC in the 50s the lobbyists were all union.
Here’s how it will happen (hopefully soon):
Why Not Hold Union Representation Elections on a Regular Schedule?
Andrew Strom — November 1st, 2017
“Republicans in Congress have already proposed a bill that would require a new election in each [private employer] unionized bargaining unit whenever, through turnover, expansion, or merger, a unit experiences at least 50 percent turnover. While no union would be happy about expending limited resources on regular retention elections, I think it would be hard to turn down a trade that would allow the 93% of workers who are unrepresented to have a chance to opt for unionization on a regular schedule.”
Lyle, it’s not the retirement itself, but its timing. It appears to be working with Trump to bring about as hard right wing a result as possible. Maybe that’s OK by you but let’s not pretend sympathy for some tired old man.
Since it is at least 2.5 years and quite possibly 6.5 years (depending on who wins the senate in 2022) until someone other than Trump (or Pence) makes the nomination that is a factor that needs to be considered. If Kennedy did not think he could make it 6.5 years then timing is not a factor. (We don’t really know the state of his health, the and really how tired he might be age does creep up and take energy away)
Consider this quote from before he was on the bench about homosexuals
“One can conclude that certain essential, or fundamental, rights should exist in any just society. It does not follow that each of those essential rights is one that we as judges can enforce under the written Constitution. The Due Process Clause is not a guarantee of every right that should inhere in an ideal system. Many argue that a just society grants a right to engage in homosexual conduct. If that view is accepted, the Bowers decision in effect says the State of Georgia has the right to make a wrong decision—wrong in the sense that it violates some people’s views of rights in a just society. We can extend that slightly to say that Georgia’s right to be wrong in matters not specifically controlled by the Constitution is a necessary component of its own political processes. Its citizens have the political liberty to direct the governmental process to make decisions that might be wrong in the ideal sense, subject to correction in the ordinary political process.]” From wikipedia article on Kennedy
If had still followed that a few years ago Obergefell would have been decided differently.
It does show that folks do change their opinion after being on the court a while.
It is often remarked that presidents don’t necessarily get what they expect from justices.
Lyle:
Why do you make excuses for a man who has impacted the outcome of SCOTUS decisions for decades to come? He knew what he was doing when he did it and he has no excuse for doing it. We already saw a flurry of negative decisions being made before he left. Have you ever filed in SCOTUS hoping you might be the one they allow a hearing?
A pox on Kennedy and may he rot in hell for his politics.
Yes, Trump would (likely) still be President but the Senate might well have changed and been able to pull a McConnell on Trump or force a moderate nomination just as happened when Kennedy was confirmed.