The New York Times is urging Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy not to retire.
The newspaper's comments came in an editorial written as an open letter to Kennedy.
"As you have no doubt heard, rumors of your impending retirement are, for the second year in a row, echoing around Washington and across America," the newspaper said. “While you and your colleagues on the Supreme Court were listening to the final oral arguments of the term in recent days, those rumors were only growing more insistent.
"How can we put this the right way? Please don't go.
"Sitting between the four liberal justices and the four conservatives, you are the most powerful member of the most powerful court in the country, as you have been for at least a decade."
It noted Kennedy has delivered landmark legal victories for Americans, “from gays to lesbians seeking equal rights to African-American college students seeking a better education."
The Times pointed out that Republican lawmakers are referring to his departure as a "done deal."
"They smell blood — if they can install another rock-ribbed conservative like Neil Gorsuch, the court will have a locked-in right-wing majority for the rest of most of our lifetimes,” the newspaper said.
It said his record on the high court “is more conservative than liberal.” And the Times added: “But there’s no question that you are less of an ideologue than anyone President (Donald) Trump would pick."
The newspaper said: "We realize this isn’t an entirely fair request. Every 81-year-old, especially those who have devoted their lives to the service of their country, should have the freedom to retire without worrying that the nation’s future may hang in the balance. But this is the world we live in."
It said if Trump gets the opportunity to fill his seat on the court, “it will be the most conservative court in nearly a century."
The Times concluded: “This is your court, Justice Kennedy. It is facing an institutional crisis, and it needs you."
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