Former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy will tell the story of his life and career in a new memoir, the Associated Press reports.
Simon & Schuster will publish Kennedy’s Life, Law, & Liberty in the fall. The press describes the book as “a reflection on the role of a judge and the life story—filled with personal heartbreak and incredible accomplishment—of a precocious boy from Sacramento, California.”
Kennedy, 88, was educated at Stanford University and Harvard Law School and worked as an attorney in private practice before being appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1975. He served on the court for nearly 13 years before being nominated by President Ronald Reagan to the Supreme Court in 1987; he was confirmed by the Senate unanimously the following year.
Kennedy served on the Supreme Court for more than 30 years before retiring in 2018. He gained a reputation as a swing vote on the court, siding mostly with the conservative bloc but joining his liberal colleagues on some high-profile cases including Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Obergefell v. Hodges.
“To understand Anthony Kennedy is to realize that, for him, judging is independent of politics, preferences, and religious beliefs,” Simon & Schuster says. “It is about a fundamental conviction that neutral principles must drive the decision and an unyielding commitment to the rule of law.”
Life, Law, & Liberty is slated for publication on Oct. 14.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
