LIFE, LAW & LIBERTY

Plodding memoir by the long-serving Supreme Court justice.

Bush v. Gore and Citizens United v. FEC—both cases inalterably changed the political climate of the U.S. Kennedy, though long pegged a liberal on the bench, joined the majority in each. As a memoir, his book follows the expected trajectory from birth to law school to a succession of federal court positions. As insight into the workings of the judiciary, it is mildly interesting. Kennedy’s legal philosophy is based on the idea that the law and a judge’s own views—he, like the majority of the bench today, is doctrinaire Catholic—need to be carefully separated, such that in cases reviewing whether burning the U.S. flag is constitutional or women have the right to abortion, “it is not for judges to rule on the personal morality of a choice but rather on the permissibility of it under our Constitution.” That’s all well and good, particularly given the ideological bent of the court that became ever more pronounced after he left, courtesy of appointments spearheaded by President Trump, whom he mentions by name precisely once. But he proudly states that one of those appointments stands out: “It was immeasurably fulfilling that the President chose one of my former law clerks, Brett Kavanaugh, to take my place.” True, Kennedy led the way in ruling in favor of gay rights in four critical Supreme Court cases; still, the “liberal” tag seems unwarranted, especially in his insistence, for example, that he did the right thing in Citizens United, despite his earlier avowal, “Power is vested in the people.” And as for the outcome of Citizens United, he adds, in the most milquetoast of phrasing, “we should not be blind to the argument that it does seem troubling that large corporations or unions can now make unlimited independent expenditures in political campaigns.”

A bland blend of autobiography and law 101.