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| Justice Anthony Kennedy Says Loss of Decency Is A Threat To Democracy |
| 2019-02-11 |
| [Daily Caller] Retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy warned university students that democracy is endangered by the decline of free and open civic debate. "We have a social framework of decency that we’re very quickly losing," Kennedy said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which was on hand during the recent event at the UC Hastings College of Law. Without that framework, he explained, free societies cannot endure. Elsewhere in his remarks, the justice bemoaned the "egocentrism that the cyber age has brought us." "Our young people in the cyber age don’t think the past is important," Kennedy said. "If it’s not on your screen, it’s not important." The importance of civil, wide-ranging discourse was a major touchstone of Kennedy’s jurisprudence during his tenure on the Supreme Court. Even in closely-divided cases touching hot social controversies, the justice emphasized the respect due to all parties and extolled the virtue of free expression. Perhaps the most significant of Kennedy’s opinions was the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, which established the constitutional right to same-sex marriage. There he repeatedly argued that the decision’s detractors had good faith objections to same-sex unions which should be aired in a respectful exchange of views. "Many who deem same-sex marriage to be wrong reach that conclusion based on decent and honorable religious or philosophical premises, and neither they nor their beliefs are disparaged here," Kennedy wrote. Elsewhere in the decision, he emphasized that religious dissenters may engage in "an open and searching debate" over the nature of marriage. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #11 It might be better to ask Where is the federal requirement to oversea marriage? I thought they were getting government out of bedrooms? |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2019-02-11 15:09 |
| #10 When they start dueling like they did in the old days I'll start to take the loss of decency bit seriously. Until then folks complaining about this are just old prunes pretending to be shocked. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2019-02-11 14:39 |
| #9 A retired Supreme Court Justice? You mean they don't have to die in office? Does RBG know about this? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2019-02-11 10:00 |
| #8 And that is why your kin have no decency. They ain't interested in keeping this a democracy. And you can rot in hell, Kennedy. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2019-02-11 09:49 |
| #7 Free and open civic debate is not the same as decency. Given a choice, I'd opt for free and open civic debate. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2019-02-11 09:21 |
| #6 he emphasized that religious dissenters may engage in "an open and searching debate" over the nature of marriage. Or they could simply default to common sense or a millennia of human tradition. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2019-02-11 09:21 |
| #5 Well, if the stick is applied with a loving heart... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2019-02-11 06:14 |
| #4 If society cannot agree on protecting children from murder then pretty much all other behaviors appear justified. |
| Posted by: Airandee 2019-02-11 06:13 |
| #3 When everybody is Lenny Bruce the uniqueness is no longer there. Life just becomes corse. You don't know what you got till it's gone. Look in the mirror Mr Justice, how many laws and ordenences did you all strike down to bring us this corseness. |
| Posted by: P2kontheroad 2019-02-11 06:08 |
| #2 That horse done left the barn in the 1990s. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2019-02-11 06:02 |
| #1 The importance of civil, wide-ranging discourse With Lefties and Muslims? Might as well try to reason with a charging doberman. A stick, on the other hand ... |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-02-11 05:52 |