Retirement of top US judge opens door to president’s pick

JUSTICE Anthony Kennedy, a pivotal figure on the US supreme court, America’s highest judicial body, announced last night that he is to retire.

His departure will give Donald Trump the opportunity to nominate a replacement and cement conservative control of the court.

Justice Kennedy, 81, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1988, was a moderate conservative who sometimes sided with the four liberal judges on the nine-member court, becoming the crucial “swing” vote on issues such as gay rights and abortion.

He said he was retiring to spend more time with his family and met Mr Trump before the decision was announced.

Last year, Mr Trump restored the court’s 5-4 conservative majority with the appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch. His next pick will allow him to make the court more solidly conservative and could open the way for changes to abortion and gun laws. The president has said that he would choose justices who want to overturn the landmark abortion case of Roe vs Wade.

Justice Kennedy said: “It has been the greatest honour and privilege to serve our nation in the federal judiciary for 43 years, 30 of those years on the supreme court.”

On Tuesday, he and the court’s four other conservatives gave Mr Trump a huge legal victory by upholding the president’s travel ban targeting people from several mainly Muslim countries.

Mr Trump praised Justice Kennedy as a man of “great vision and tremendous heart”. He said the search for a replacement would begin “immediately” and “hopefully we will pick someone who is just as outstanding”.

His nominated replacement will have to be confirmed by Congress.