'Democracy is not guaranteed': Former conservative Supreme Court justice sounds alarm

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy attend U.S. President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol

The Guardian reports retired U.S. supreme court justice Anthony Kennedy says “democracy is not guaranteed to survive” now that “partisanship is becoming much more prevalent and more bitter” in the Supreme Court.

Speaking with NPR, Kennedy was asked whether he was confident the Supreme Court’s major decisions would remain intact. Seven years after his retirement, Kennedy said he had no self-assurance of that.

“We live in an era where reasoned, thoughtful, rational, respectful discourse has been replaced by antagonistic, confrontational conversation,” said Kennedy, who was appointed to the supreme court during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

“It seems to me the idea of partisanship is becoming much more prevalent and more bitter. And my concern is that the court in its own opinions … has to be asked to moderate and become much more respectful.”

“Democracy is not guaranteed to survive,” he added.

His comments precede the court’s upcoming nine-month term beginning in October, during which the Guardian reports it may weigh in on a request to overturn the 5-4 Obergefell Supreme Court decision that legalized marriage for same-sex couples nationwide in 2015. Kennedy spent three decades on the Supreme Court as the moderate conservative who authored the majority opinion legalizing same-sex marriage.

Kennedy wrote: “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family,” in the Obergefell decision. “… The nature of marriage is that, through its enduring bond, two persons together can find other freedoms, such as expression, intimacy and spirituality. This is true for all persons, whatever their sexual orientation.”

He added in that opinion that “There is dignity in the bond between two men or two women who seek to marry and in their autonomy to make such profound choices.”

Other, more conservative, members of the court are happy to toss precedent — or redefine “precedent” they claimed was “settled” during their confirmation hearings.

The Guardian notes Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas has publicly proclaimed that he does not believe “any of these cases that have been decided are the gospel.” He added that he did not feel any obligation to hold to precedent if he found it personally “doesn’t make any sense” or he finds it “totally stupid.”

Read the full Guardian report at this link.

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