Judging Kennedy

There's a fascinating (and very long) article in the New Yorker about the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Anthony Kennedy and how Kennedy is influenced by international standards and rulings. The article is headlined, "Swing Shift: How Anthony Kennedy's passion for foreign law could change the Supreme Court."

For those interested in the subject, this is a must-read.

Here's a quick excerpt:

The debate over foreign law and the Constitution thrusts the Supreme Court into the perennial struggle in American politics between internationalists and isolationists. More important, perhaps, Kennedy’s unlikely transformation into a tribune of legal multiculturalism offers a striking lesson in the unpredictability of the Court. If O’Connor’s replacement, presumably John G. Roberts, Jr., turns out to be a dependable conservative, Kennedy’s influence on the Court is likely to grow. With John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer to his left and Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas, and (possibly) the new Justice to his right, Kennedy’s vote may increasingly determine the Court’s decisions.

To read the entire piece (it's long!) go here.