Justice Anthony Kennedy’s Federalism and the Limits of State Sovereignty

Frank J Colucci

Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 2019, vol. 49, issue 3, 490-514

Abstract: This article analyzes Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s commitment to protecting state sovereignty. In contrast to scholars who view Kennedy’s behavior as merely pragmatic or centrist, this article focuses on principles and tensions underlying his liberty-based approach to federalism. From his early career in Sacramento through three decades on the U.S. Supreme Court, Kennedy sought to restore a federalism he considered essential to personal and political liberty but increasingly “endangered.” His opinions extended beyond the constitutional text to protect traditional areas of state concern, state treasuries, and local political decision making against increasing federal control. However, Kennedy subordinated state sovereignty when it interfered with the federal government’s direct relationship to citizens, promoted economic protectionism, and violated his expansive conceptions of constitutional liberty and human dignity. The article concludes by situating Kennedy’s distinctive conception of federalism within the larger Rehnquist and Roberts Courts.

Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/publius/pjz012 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:publus:v:49:y:2019:i:3:p:490-514.

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Publius: The Journal of Federalism is currently edited by Paul Nolette and Philip Rocco

More articles in Publius: The Journal of Federalism from CSF Associates Inc. Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().