Retired US Supreme Court Justice Kennedy warns 'freedom is at risk'

By Nate Raymond

June 26 (Reuters) - Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on Thursday expressed concern about the "tone of our political discourse" as he defended the role judges play in a democracy and argued for the need to protect them and their families from threats.

Kennedy, who retired from the top court in 2018 during Republican President Donald Trump's first term, made the remarks during a virtual forum featuring judges from other countries who warned about how attacks on courts can threaten democracies.

Kennedy, in rare public remarks, did not mention Trump during the "Speak Up for Justice" event, even as other participants voiced alarm about the barrage of threats and attacks the judiciary has faced as key parts of the Republican president's second-term agenda have been blocked in courts.

But Kennedy, who was appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, stressed that "the rest of the world, many in the rest of the world, look to the United States to see what democracy is, to see what democracy ought to be."

"And if they see a hostile, fractious discourse, if they see a discourse that uses identity politics rather than to talk about issues, democracy is at risk," Kennedy said. "Freedom is at risk."

Kennedy said "judges must have protection for themselves and their families." He said "judges are best protected when the public and our nation realize how central they are to our discourse."

"We should be concerned in this country about, as I've already indicated, the tone of our political discourse," he said. "Identity politics are used so that a person is characterized by his or her partisan affiliation. That's not what democracy and civil discourse is about."

South African jurist Richard Goldstone, who called himself a friend of Kennedy's, criticized what "have been personal attacks on the independence of some judges who have ruled against the administration," saying the judges were fulfilling their duties.

U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, whose son was killed by a disgruntled lawyer who went to her New Jersey home in 2020, said disinformation about judges was spreading "from the top down," with jurists being derided as "rogue" and "corrupt."

She warned during the event that the number of threats recorded against judges this year were reaching historic heights in the United States.

"We're going to break records, people, and not in a good way," she said.

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