Please love me. (By Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
Well, isn’t this awkward.
In all the Republican gloating and Democratic tears over swearing Neil Gorsuch into Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court seat, it was easy to miss this small moment. Gorsuch was sworn into the Supreme Court by Anthony Kennedy, the Justice he once clerked for. Amid the cheers of the crowd, Gorsuch tells Justice Kennedy, “I’m going to give you a hug.” Kennedy… does not reciprocate.
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Perhaps some of Justice Kennedy’s reluctance to express emotion over Gorsuch’s big moment has to do with something besides stoicism.
There has been increasing speculation over when Justice Kennedy will retire — hell, we even got in on the game. There has even been a suggestion that appointing his former clerk to the Court was designed to be an enticement to Kennedy to turn in his robe, leaving President Trump to pick out a second Supreme Court justice. Given Kennedy’s recent role as the swing vote in many cases — including, most notably, Obergefell v. Hodges — this would put the fulcrum of the Court at Trump’s discretion.
Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in Obergefell, snippets of which have been featured in wedding ceremonies pretty much from the second it was legal for gay couples all across America to get married. Zoom in on that face; does that look like a man who wants to see his gay rights legacy disappear?
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Maybe we will have Justice Kennedy on the Court through (at least) 2020.
Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).