I'm not sure where you get your technical definition of "in politics", but yeah, it's not a big change. Kennedy is the central vote on the issue and will almost always have 4 justices on either side of him, since abortion is, for the most part, not one of the more complex issues the court faces. He co-wrote Casey, the 1992 case that forms the basis for modern constitutional abortion law. There, and in other cases since, he's been all about a relatively lax "undue burden" test. He's long supported, for instance, the idea that the law should allow laws that limit abortions in the interest of protecting pre-natal life. It seems pretty likely that there'll be a fair few more restrictions permitted over the next few years. It's not likely that there'll be a particularly significant restriction permitted. Kennedy is Catholic, but he's not likely to pay much attention to the Pope on this matter. He knew church doctrine when he wrote Casey. He knew church doctrine on homosexuality when he wrote Lawrence. The Pope's words are bad for abortion because they mean that Catholics from the pro-choice wing of their party, like Guiliani and Pelosi, could have more difficulty finding support. For the most part, though, the impact of the words will be felt much more in places where abortion is still hard; the pronouncement was much more closely linked with abortion becoming legal in Mexico City than anything significant in the US. Benedict isn't terribly interested in the US, for the most part. And yes, Kennedy is incredibly unlikely to be excommunicated. It's an issue that it makes sense to be depressed about, but there's nothing catastrophic coming.
I can see that. There's no need to please anyone when you're in position for life. There's certainly no need for politicking in the field in which they're vitally important. Still, in other fields they're totally politicians. They all have their pet schemes that they try to get promoted. Roberts wants other judges to be paid more. Ginsburg still actively promotes feminist causes. Breyer wants politicians to go on more international junkets. Kennedy wants people to worship Kennedy. All that is stuff that they can't mandate, so they have to go press the flesh, pay account of interest groups, and so on.
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Date: 2007-05-15 06:56 pm (UTC)Kennedy is the central vote on the issue and will almost always have 4 justices on either side of him, since abortion is, for the most part, not one of the more complex issues the court faces. He co-wrote Casey, the 1992 case that forms the basis for modern constitutional abortion law. There, and in other cases since, he's been all about a relatively lax "undue burden" test. He's long supported, for instance, the idea that the law should allow laws that limit abortions in the interest of protecting pre-natal life. It seems pretty likely that there'll be a fair few more restrictions permitted over the next few years. It's not likely that there'll be a particularly significant restriction permitted.
Kennedy is Catholic, but he's not likely to pay much attention to the Pope on this matter. He knew church doctrine when he wrote Casey. He knew church doctrine on homosexuality when he wrote Lawrence.
The Pope's words are bad for abortion because they mean that Catholics from the pro-choice wing of their party, like Guiliani and Pelosi, could have more difficulty finding support. For the most part, though, the impact of the words will be felt much more in places where abortion is still hard; the pronouncement was much more closely linked with abortion becoming legal in Mexico City than anything significant in the US. Benedict isn't terribly interested in the US, for the most part.
And yes, Kennedy is incredibly unlikely to be excommunicated. It's an issue that it makes sense to be depressed about, but there's nothing catastrophic coming.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-15 07:14 pm (UTC)Let me put it this way: once you're a Supreme Court Justice, you aren't in politics. You've won at politics. :)
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Date: 2007-05-15 07:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-15 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-16 06:55 am (UTC)