Justice Kennedy Visits Campus, Pays Tribute to Former Colleagues
March 15, 2006Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy returned to Pacific McGeorge on March 15 and regaled an overflow Lecture Hall crowd with a tribute to two of his former colleagues on the high court. His talk was piped into several other packed classrooms.
Justice Kennedy, who taught Constitutional Law in the Evening Division from 1965 to 1988 and still teaches in the school’s Salzburg Summer Program, blended humor with insight in a talk that focused on the legacy of the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist and retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, classmates in Stanford Law School’s Class of 1952.
“Chief Justice Rehnquist was a warm, compassionate man with a wonderful mind,” Kennedy said. “In his opinions, you see that he placed a great value on the concepts of federalism and individualism, individual freedom. Justice O’Connor was always concerned with the ideal of equality and the practical consequences of her decisions,” Kennedy said. “She was a great guardian of the Constitution and the two of them shared a remarkable friendship.”
Justice Kennedy answered several faculty questions, including one concerning the need for an independent judiciary in an age of politically charged hearings and criticism of court decisions. “Judicial independence exists not so judges can do as they like but can do as they must,” he said.
Justice Kennedy was on his way to an appearance at Stanford Law School later in the week to speak at a symposium honoring Rehnquist and O’Connor.
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