The Tie Goes to Freedom: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Liberty

309 Pages·2009·0.36 MB·English

by  Helen J. Knowles

GOVERNMENT • LAW
At the ideological center of the Supreme Court
Helen J. Knowles is assistant professor of political
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sits Anthony M. Kennedy, whose pivotal role on
science at the State University of New York, Oswego. “Everyone who seeks to understand today’s Supreme Court—Anthony M. Kennedy’s
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the Rehnquist Court is only expected to grow in
Her articles have been published in Journal of Supreme Supreme Court—will profi t from reading Helen J. Knowles’s sympathetic but not R
e
importance now that he is the lone “swing justice” on
Court History, Slavery & Abolition, Ohio Northern University uncritical discussion of Justice Kennedy’s ‘modest libertarianism,’ and especially her
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the Roberts Court. The Ties Goes to Freedom is the fi rst
Law Review, First Amendment Law Review, and the Journal of treatment of Justice Kennedy’s concern that liberty be exercised responsibly.” E
i
Legal Education. —MARK TUSHNET, e book-length analysis of Kennedy, and it challenges
William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Harvard Law School E the conventional wisdom that his jurisprudence is
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inconsistent and incoherent.
“Despite decades of conservative complaints about judicial activism, D o
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the Supreme Court continues to defend constitutional liberty. In a thoughtful and Using the hot-button issues of privacy rights, race, and
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engaging analysis of Justice Kennedy’s libertarian constitutional vision, O free speech, this book demonstrates how Kennedy
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Helen J. Knowles explains why the tie still goes to freedom.” o forcefully articulates a libertarian constitutional
—THOMAS M. KECK,
vision. The Tie Goes to Freedom fi lls two signifi cant
associate professor of political science, Maxwell School of Syracuse University M
voids—one examining the jurisprudence of the man
at the ideological center of the Supreme Court, the
“Justice Kennedy’s jurisprudence is of obvious signifi cance, and Helen J. Knowles
other demonstrating the compatibility of an expansive
has done an exceptional amount of research on that jurisprudence.
judicial role with libertarian political theory.
The result is a series of fascinating insights on the most central and centrist
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thinker on the contemporary Supreme Court. This is the fi rst place to look for
hints about how the Supreme Court may respond to a new administration.” N
—MARK GRABER,
professor of law and government, University of Maryland School of Law O The Tie Goes to
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FREEDOM
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For orders and information please contact the publisher E
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
S
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Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Liberty
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HELEN J. KNOWLES
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T H E T I E G O E S T O F R E E D O M

T H E T I E G O E S T O F R E E D O M
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Liberty
HELEN J. KNOWLES
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth,UK
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS,INC.
Published in the United States ofAmerica
by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers,Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary ofThe Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group,Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard,Suite 200,Lanham,Maryland 20706
www.rowmanlittlefield.com
Estover Road
Plymouth PL6 7PY
United Kingdom
Copyright© 2009 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers,Inc.
All rights reserved.No part ofthis publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form or by any
means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,or otherwise,
without the prior permission ofthe publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Knowles,Helen J.,1973–
The tie goes to freedom :Justice Anthony M.Kennedy on liberty / Helen J.Knowles.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-0-7425-6257-8 (cloth :alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-7425-6257-3 (cloth :alk.paper)
ISBN-13:978-0-7425-6608-8 (electronic)
ISBN-10:0-7425-6608-0 (electronic)
1. Kennedy,Anthony M.,1936– 2. Civil rights—United States.3. Privacy,Right of—
United States.4. Freedom ofspeech—United States. I.Kennedy,Anthony M.,1936– II.
Title.
KF4749.K59 2009
342.7308'5—dc22 2008037891
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
(cid:2)™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements ofAmerican
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence ofPaper for Printed Library
Materials,ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
In memory of
Ralph Knowles and Paul Donovan

Epigraph
The law is what we live with.Justice is sometimes harder to achieve.
—Sherlock Holmes
(Arthur Conan Doyle,The Adventure ofthe Red Circle)
Justice is the end of government.It is the end of civil society.It ever has
been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained,or until liberty be lost
in the pursuit.
—James Madison,FederalistNo.51
— vii—

Contents
List ofFigures xi
List ofTables xiii
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction:Shall We Call it the Kennedy Court? 1
1 Justice Kennedy,On Liberty 19
2 “Speech is the Beginning ofThought” 53
3 IfRational Basis Means Anything ... 89
4 When Only Strict Scrutiny Will Do 127
5 Liberty,Exercised Responsibly 161
Conclusion:“It All Depends on Justice Kennedy” 195
Notes 205
Bibliography 257
Index 275
About the Author 285
— ix—