Local Reaction to Justice Kennedy's Retirement

SAN ANGELO, TX -- United States Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s sudden retirement gives President Donald Trump a second pick to the high court in a move that will almost certainly move the nation’s highest court toward the conservative right.  

Kennedy announced his planned retirement Wednesday in a letter to President Trump.  Trump’s first appointment was conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch. Kennedy’s retirement comes after both Gorsuch and Kennedy were key votes in two controversial decisions this week -- upholding Trump's 'travel ban' and ruling against union's 'fair share' fees. Both decisions were 5-4.

Tom Green County Republican Party Chairman Jeff Betty Wednesday praised Justice Kennedy and is hopeful the President will nominate another conservative jurist to the SCOTUS.

“Justice Kennedy will go down in history as a pivotal figure in American History.  As a swing vote in many critical cases Justice Kennedy played a key role in defining government’s role and the breadth of its power in society.” said Betty.  

“An appointee of Ronald Reagan he refused to apply ideological political positions to resolve cases often to the dismay of both political parties.  I am hopeful his replacement will be as influential in limiting government overreach and preserving the rule of law.”

Tom Green County Democratic Party Chairman David Currie was disappointed Kennedy decided to step down. Currie was still sore that the final Supreme Court pick of President Barrack Obama, Merrick Garland, wasn’t confirmed by the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate. “What [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell did was simply un-American,” Currie said. McConnell refused to allow Garland’s appointment to be considered by the Senate in 2016 after Donald Trump was elected president.

“I’m a balanced guy,” Currie said. “I would like to see the appointment be from the mainstream of American life. Extremes, either right or left, are never profitable for this country.”

Although Currie is resigned to the fact that Trump will nominate a second Supreme Court justice, he doesn’t see the two pivotal issues of our generations changing at all.

“I think Trump could appoint all nine Supreme Court justices and Roe vs. Wade will remain the law of the land,” he said. Roe vs. Wade is the 1972 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the U.S.

Likewise, Currie said, the Second Amendment, and gun rights that go along with it, would remain the law of the land, had President Obama selected all nine justices.

“The right to own a gun or have an abortion will not change in my lifetime, or my grandkids’ lifetime, no matter who is on the court,” he said. “And I am pro-life. People voting solely on those two issues are throwing their votes away.”

Currie said issues like gerrymandering keep him up at night. Those kinds of issues will have a greater impact than what the Supremes may do with the Second Amendment, he said. For example, in Wisconsin, Currie claimed that Democrats received seven percent more votes, but Republicans still control the state house there with a 60 of 99-seat majority. The Supreme Court sent that case back to a Wisconsin district court last week.

President’s Trump’s nominee will have to be confirmed by the Senate and could be done as early as this fall.  Supreme Court Justices are appointed for life.