Meet Justice Anthony Kennedy's Closeted Gay Mentor

The Irish Catholic boy who came of age in Sacramento after World War II is an unlikely candidate to be the author of the Supreme Court's major gay rights rulings.

But those who have known Justice Anthony Kennedy for decades and scholars who have studied his work say he has long stressed the importance of valuing people as individuals. And he seems likely also to have been influenced in this regard by a pillar of the Sacramento legal community, a closeted gay man who hired Kennedy as a law school instructor and testified on his behalf at his high court confirmation hearings in Washington.

With three major gay rights opinions to his name already, the 78-year-old Kennedy is the prohibitive favorite to write the Supreme Court decision in June that could extend same-sex marriage nationwide.

Kennedy's friendship with Gordon Schaber began in the mid-1960s when Schaber recruited the young lawyer to teach at the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. Schaber, who served as the school's dean for 34 years, was in the process of transforming McGeorge from an unaccredited night school to a respected institution that now is a part of Pacific University.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/gordon-schaber-justice-anthony-kennedy?utm_content=buffer84cef&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer


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The justices found that, under the 14th Amendment, states must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and recognize same-sex unions that have been legally performed in other states. Justice Anthony Kennedy delivered the majority opinion and was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. In a rare move, the four dissenting justices each wrote an opinion.


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In the majority opinion, the justices outlined several reasons same-sex marriage should be allowed. They wrote that the right to marriage is an inherent aspect of individual autonomy, since "decisions about marriage are among the most intimate that an individual can make." They also said gay Americans have a right to "intimate association" beyond merely freedom from laws that ban homosexuality.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/26/supreme-court-gay-marriage_n_7470036.html



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In a historic move, the Supreme Court, in a narrow five-to-four decision, legalized gay marriage throughout the United States, declaring that the constitutional principle of equal protection overwhelms any state or local bans on same-sex marriage. Justice Anthony Kennedy, a.k.a. Mr. Swing Vote, penned the majority decision that was joined by the four court liberals, and the opinion is a paean to marriage, with Kennedy passionately describing the benefits and significance of marriage and maintaining that same-sex couples can in no way, under the Constitution, be excluded from this fundamental institution. Here are the best passages from his historic opinion:

The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity.

The 19 Best Lines From the Supreme Court Decision That Just Legalized Gay Marriage
Justice Kennedy's majority opinion is a love letter to marriage—and gay marriage.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/06/supreme-court-gay-marriage-best-lines-kennedy-decision