Description: "Anthony Kennedy did not take the usual path to a seat on the Supreme Court. ... Although Kennedy attended Stanford and the London School of Economics and then Harvard Law School, he made his way as a lawyer with a wide-ranging small-town practice that included criminal and civil trials, advice in forming and managing corporations, estate planning, and tax advice. For him, the law was not just an idea but a reality that touches Americans' lives every day. ... Born in Sacramento in 1936, the Irish-Catholic Kennedy grew up in a family active in civic affairs. ... [After he completed his education and] returned to Sacramento in 1963, it was to take over his late father's law practice. ... His work brought him into contact with the state's political elite. ... In 1975, Gerald Ford appointed him to the federal judiciary. He was just thirty-eight and the youngest federal appellate court judge in the nation. His life now turned toward Washington, but it was Sacramento that was the making of a consequential jurist"--
Brief description: Anthony M. Kennedy began his service as a Supreme Court Justice in 1988 and assumed senior status in 2018. Born in Sacramento, California, he received his BA from Stanford University and the London School of Economics, and his LLB from Harvard Law School. Starting in private practice in San Francisco and Sacramento, he was also a professor of constitutional law at the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific. He has served in numerous positions during his career, including as a member of the California Army National Guard, the board of the Federal Judicial Center, and two committees of the Judicial Conference of the United States: the Advisory Committee on Codes of Conduct, and the Committee on Pacific Territories. He was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1975. Between his service on the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, he wrote nearly 1,000 opinions over more than forty years on the federal bench. Justice Kennedy currently lives in Virginia with his wife, Mary, continuing to work on important projects for the Court, and is a proud father and grandfather.
Review Quotes: "Life, Law & Liberty tells the remarkable story of a truly unique life...[F]ull of affection and with some truly astonishing stories... This makes for great reading."
--The Wall Street Journal
--Adam Liptak, New York Times "Surprisingly revealing...he recounts the decisions he made on the Court through a distinctly personal lens, including his struggles and second thoughts." --The New York Review of Books