Barry McDonald Speaks on Justice Kennedy Retirement at Southeastern Association of Law Schools Conference

August 14, 2018 | Professor Barry P. McDonald spoke on a panel titled "The Kennedy Retirement: A Retrospective and Gaze at the Future" at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) 2018 Annual Conference. The conference took place in Florida on August 5-11.  Professor McDonald also wrote the published Session Summary.

Excerpt from The Kennedy Retirement: A Retrospective and Gaze at the Future:

Professor Barry McDonald next discussed the areas of constitutional law most likely to change assuming the Court becomes staffed with five solid conservative justices. In areas of constitutional structure, he focused on justiciability requirements being potentially tightened (e.g., standing and political question standards), and congressional and executive power to fight the "war on terror" being expanded. As to constitutional rights, among other things, he discussed how substantive due process standards would likely revert to the more restrictive history and traditions approach, abortion rights will likely be curtailed (and Roe potentially overruled), and affirmative action programs will likely face extreme skepticism.