Anthony Kennedy

Anthony McLeod Kennedy was born on July 23, 1936, in Sacramento, California, and served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018, nominated by President Ronald Reagan after two earlier nominees to the seat failed. A federal appeals judge on the Ninth Circuit since 1975, he was confirmed to the Supreme Court unanimously, and after Sandra Day OConnors 2006 retirement he became widely regarded as the decisive swing vote on many of the Roberts Courts closely divided rulings. He authored the majority opinion in four major gay rights cases, Romer v. Evans, Lawrence v. Texas, United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges, which recognized a constitutional right to same sex marriage, as well as in Citizens United v. FEC and Boumediene v. Bush, and he co-authored the controlling opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey with Justices Sandra Day OConnor and David Souter. He retired during Donald Trumps presidency and was succeeded by his former law clerk, Brett Kavanaugh.