Justice Kennedy shines light on prisons’ dark side in concurrence

Criminal Procedure

By Timothy P. O’Neill

Timothy P. O’Neill is the Edward T. and Noble W. Lee Chair in Constitutional Law for 2014-15 at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Readers are invited to visit his Web log and archives at jmls.edu/oneill.

Posted July 8, 2015 3:16 PM

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy had a busy June. For all his hard work, I am awarding him a compliment sandwich.Kudos to him for his historic opinion on gay marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges. It will be remembered as one of the most important decisions of the 21st century.But a loud boo for his view that the First Amendment would force the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to accede to a person’s demand that the state allow him to get a specialty license plate emblazoned with the Confederate flag. Walker v. Texas Div …

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