WASHINGTON — Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the Supreme Court’s most influential member prior to his retirement, has watched quietly for eight years as a new conservative majority took charge.
Though he believed abortion was a moral wrong, he cast the crucial vote in 1992 to uphold Roe vs. Wade and the principle that a woman, not the government, had the right to decide on ending an early pregnancy.
Four years ago, that decision was overturned on a 5-4 vote.
While Kennedy has refrained from commenting on the current court or President Trump, he has written a memoir that tells his life story and explains the reasoning behind the major decisions of his era.
It has become common for the justices to write books, but they steer clear of writing about the work of the court. Kennedy’s book, “Life, Law & Liberty,” is, like the justice, the exception to that rule.
An Irish Catholic from Sacramento and a Reagan Republican, Kennedy had a generally conservative voting record over 30 years on the high court. But he had a distinct view of liberty and justice.
“The nature of injustice is that we may not always see it in our own times,” he wrote in 2015.
Kennedy rejected the “rigid” view that the Constitution’s promises of liberty and equal protection of the law, as well as the protection against cruel and unusual punishment, were limited to their “original” meaning in the Bill of Rights of 1791 or the 14th Amendment of 1868.
After all, slavery and segregation were legal for much of American history, and women were not protected from discrimination by the promise of “equal protection” in the 14th Amendment.
Kennedy remained open to new rights and liberties. The goal, he wrote, was “a decent society in which the Constitution and the rule of law treat all with dignity and equality.”
He was the justice who made the difference in several areas of law, none more significant than in LGBTQ+ rights.
He wrote the court’s four major rulings rejecting discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 2015, he spoke for the 5-4 majority to uphold same-sex marriages nationwide.
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family,” he wrote. “Many same-sex couples provide loving and nurturing homes to their children, whether biological or adopted. And hundreds of thousands of children are presently being raised by such couples.”
They “ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right,” he concluded in Obergefell vs. Hodges.
He also believed that teenagers who commit crimes are not as culpable as adults. He wrote a court opinion in 2005 ending executions for murderers who were under age 18 at the time of their crime.
Five years later, he wrote the court’s opinion holding it was cruel and unusual punishment for judges to impose a sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole for a teenager’s crime that did not involve homicide. In the case before the court, a Florida teen was given a life term for committing an armed robbery and a home burglary prior to his 18th birthday.
Kennedy marked his 90th birthday on Thursday and says his favorite topic of conversation is not the nine justices but his nine grandchildren. He still goes to the court some days and says he is worried by the tone in Washington and around the country.
“It is too partisan and confrontational,” he said in a recent interview with The Times. “I’m concerned that the divisiveness may be reflected at the court.”
Democracy requires “reasoned and respectful debate,” he said, not personal attacks and name calling.
Kennedy may be the last justice of his kind, said Washington University law professor Daniel Epps, a former Kennedy clerk.
“I don’t think we’ll see another justice who is so ideologically unpredictable and who votes against his party of appointment in some of the hugest cases in our lifetimes,” he said. Kennedy emerged from “an appointments process that was less polarized, where there were conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans and a Senate filibuster, which all made it possible for moderates to be appointed.”
While Kennedy describes himself at times as a small-town lawyer from Sacramento, he knew the two California governors, both Republicans, who reshaped the Supreme Court.
Kennedy’s father was a friend of Gov. Earl Warren, and young Tony played with Warren’s children. He also worked as a young page in the state Capitol when Warren was governor.
He was a high school senior in 1954 when Warren, the new chief justice, spoke for a unanimous court to strike down racial segregation in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education.
He and his father agreed the ruling was long overdue. It also provided an early lesson in how justices can uphold the fundamental principles of the Constitution despite intense opposition in much of the nation.
He said he later learned a second lesson. The Brown decision was “a historic step forward” but it “just a beginning” in the fight against entrenched racial injustice.
In writing the same-sex marriage case, Kennedy cited Warren’s opinion in the 1967 case of Loving vs. Virginia which struck down the bans on interracial marriages in 16 states.
As as young lawyer, Kennedy worked on special projects for Gov. Ronald Reagan and admired him greatly. He was just 38 years old when, at Reagan’s behest, he was appointed to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
As president a decade later, Reagan had appointed Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Antonin Scalia to the Supreme Court and elevated William Rehnquist to be the chief justice. But his third nominee — Judge Robert Bork — was voted down as too conservative by the Senate.
Reagan invited Kennedy to the White House and offered him the nomination. Kennedy recalled telling Reagan that he and his wife Mary were happy in Sacramento where all their friends and family lived. We don’t know anyone in Washington, he said.
President Reagan gestures toward Judge Anthony M. Kennedy’s family after nominating Kennedy to the Supreme Court in 1987.
(Dennis Cook / Associated Press)
In his best imitation of Reagan’s voice, he recounted the president’s response: “You know me. And you know Nancy.”
Kennedy accepted the nomination and was confirmed in February 1988 by a 97-0 vote, the last justice to win unanimous approval from the Senate.
His three decades on the court were shaped in part by his relationship with Scalia.
Kennedy and his wife bought a house in the same northern Virginia neighborhood where Scalia lived. In their early years on the court, they appeared to be friends and allies.
They broadly supported freedom of speech. To the surprise of many, they cast the deciding votes in 1989 to rule that the 1st Amendment protects the right to burn an American flag in protest.
A year later, Kennedy and Scalia dissented vehemently when the court ruled the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and its corporate supporters could be barred from advertising their support for state candidates.
The decision triggered a decades-long dispute that ended with the Citizens United ruling in 2010. Kennedy spoke for a 5-4 conservative majority to rule that corporations, unions and other groups were free to spend money independently to oppose or support candidates.
But when the court was closely split in major cases, Kennedy was likely to be in majority while Scalia wrote scathing and increasingly personal dissents.
“I would hide my head in a bag,” Scalia wrote in dissent in the same-sex marriage case, rather than join an opinion “couched in a style that is as pretentious as its content is egotistic.”
Kennedy was put off by a different jab. Scalia said the justices do not represent the full country. For example, the court lacks a “genuine Westerner (California does not count),” he wrote.
Since Scalia’s death, his influence has grown especially with the younger generation of conservatives.
Two of Trump’s appointees — Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh — were clerks for Kennedy in 1993, but they are far more likely to cite Scalia and his views on interpreting laws or the Constitution. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s third appointee, was a clerk for Scalia.
While Kennedy did not respond to Scalia’s harsh dissents, they hung over their last year together on the court.
One day in early February of 2016, Scalia stopped by Kennedy’s office to talk.
“Nino said he had come to regret deeply the tone of his Obergefell dissent and its personal references. He apologized for being intemperate,” Kennedy wrote. “Neither of us is big on hugging, but we hugged, both of us smiling.”
They agreed to get together for dinner with their wives when he returned from a hunting trip to Texas.
A week later, Scalia’s wife Maureen called to tell them of his death.
“Nino and I spent 28 years on the court together,” Kennedy wrote. “We sometimes agreed and sometimes disagreed, but I respected him and miss him very much.”
The Owen family are back on screens today as a repeat episode of Our Farm Next Door airs
Amanda Owen made a sad discovery about Anty John’s(Image: ITV)
Amanda Owen reflected on the future at Anty John’s after making a morbid discovery.
Amanda, who has described owning Anty John’s “as a dream come true”, has captivated viewers for years with her rugged rural life on the North Yorkshire Moors.
The farmer, author and TV personality rose to fame through the Channel 5 series Our Yorkshire Farm, which followed her life at Ravenseat Farm alongside her nine children — Raven, Reuben, Miles, Edith, Violet, Sidney, Annas, Clemmie and Nancy — and her then-husband Clive Owen.
Since her split from Clive in 2022, Amanda has embarked on a new chapter, taking on Anty Johns, a historic property that has become the subject of her latest Channel 5 series, Our Farm Next Door.
The show follows Amanda and her children as they restore and settle into their new home, and during a repeat airing on Sunday, it took a distinctly “morbid” turn.
Taking advantage of a day off from the demanding farm work that keeps her and her nine children busy, Amanda paid a visit to Derek at the County Records Office. There, the historian uncovered the diary of Anty Johns’ former owner, revealing that the man had breathed his last breath within the very walls of the property.
Eager to unearth the secrets of her new home’s past, Amanda made her wishes clear to the historian: “I guess what I am wanting to find out is who in this extensive family tree was actually residing in my house at Anty Johns.”
Turning his attention to Anthony Clarkson’s ancestry, Derek guided Amanda through the Clarksons’ family history, concluding with John, the last of the bloodline to live at Anty Johns, who died in 1900.
Fascinated by the records, including details of John Clarkson’s inquest, Amanda read aloud from the document: “The body of the man, aged about 81, is lying dead at Smithy Home (Anty Johns).”
She discovered John’s final moments: “Time of death 6am, 5th December 1900. At about 9am on Tuesday, the housekeeper, Anne, proposed to send for the doctor, but the deceased would not hear of it.”
Amanda went on, quoting: “And said, ‘I shall soon be better and about’. I know it’s kind of morbid, but it sort of humanises people when you hear about it.”
Recounting the history, she added: “So basically, we know in 1900, the last Clarkson died upstairs in a bedroom at Smithy Home.”
Searching for further family stories, Derek highlighted that Anthony’s marriage records would prove crucial. Anthony wed his first wife in 1818, and shortly after their marriage they welcomed four children and made Smithy Home their residence.
Anthony’s second wife’s death was recorded as Angina, a touching detail discovered amongst the documents. A diary penned by one of Anthony’s children, James, also provides glimpses into his father’s passing.
Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids is available to watch on Channel 4.
When Victor Marx was 3 years old, he was forced into a voodoo ritual involving a beheaded cat. At age 7, he killed a man.
Or so Marx says.
But he was not just a precocious child.
As an adult running a “high-risk” Christian ministry, Marx says he rescued 45,000 women and children from captivity and abuse. As a civilian, he supposedly called in a U.S. military airstrike that killed 70 ISIS fighters. He’s exorcised demons — and can do so over the telephone, he says, if need be.
True or, most likely, false, those woolly claims and epic tales of derring-do aren’t the weirdest thing about Marx.
A political newcomer, Marx eked out his victory in a three-way race by less than 2,500 votes out of more than 520,000 cast. (It took almost nine days to declare a winner, but surely you knew that already, given the national outcry over how long it took Colorado to count its ballots. Oh, wait. Never mind.)
Although slender, Marx’s victory delivered a strong statement: about the grave condition of mainstream Republicanism; about the increasing embrace of oddity and extremism by a deeply disaffected slice of the American electorate; about the unsettled and unsettling nature of today’s politics.
“It’s almost cult-like,” Dick Wadhams, a former Colorado GOP chairman, said of Marx’s support. “You talk to some of these people, and there is no doubt in their mind he will be governor, because God has decided that he’s going to be governor.”
There’s fat chance of that. (Please don’t smite me.)
Colorado has elected only one Republican governor in the last 55 years, and that was back in 2002. It’s been 10 years since a Republican won any statewide office. The Democratic nominee, Atty. Gen. Phil Weiser, is as close to a November shoo-in — after stomping U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in the primary — as it gets.
But Marx, 61, a former Marine and expert in martial arts, is nothing if not swaggering. His role model is, of course, the political disrupter and fabulist-in-chief currently occupying the White House.
Like President Trump, Marx relies heavily on personal charisma, a strong social media presence and the purposeful shunning of campaign norms which, to the politically alienated, speaks to his independence from the establishment and offers a welcome break from the same old, same old.
He casts himself as a problem-solver and negotiator par excellence. He skimps on policy and skipped most of the preprimary debates; at the one he did attend, Marx brought his dog, a Dutch shepherd, onstage. In lieu of a closing statement, Marx prayed.
When asked, he hasn’t backed off his fantastical claims. But Marx hasn’t done a very good job substantiating them.
As a young boy growing up in Louisiana, he says, his abusive stepfather — the one who supposedly involved him in a satanic feline decapitation — drove him to rural Mississippi, where Marx shot and killed a man. Police told Colorado Public Radio they had no record of any unsolved homicides from that time.
“I don’t think that’s important,” Marx replied. “It’s actually kind of — it’s an odd question to me.”
Actually, it’s not.
(Conceding the Republican race, state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer — the runner-up — conspicuously declined to endorse Marx, urging voters to “choose the path that is best for Colorado” in November. “For the record,” she added. “I still haven’t killed anyone.”)
In many ways, Marx is a mainstream conservative Republican. He founded All Things Possible Ministries, a Christian nonprofit that tends to refugees and other victims of trauma. His focus on law and order, tax relief, small government and deregulation are all standard GOP fare.
But his florid tales of youthful homicide, telephonic exorcisms, personally intercepting human smugglers on the U.S.-Mexico border — well, not so much.
Most voters will probably have a hard time getting past those autobiographical extravagances, which could spell trouble — depressed GOP turnout, guilt by association — for other Colorado Republicans, including freshman Rep. Gabe Evans, who’s fighting to hang onto a closely fought congressional seat in the north-central part of the state.
“The Colorado Republican Party right now is impotent and irrelevant,” said Wadhams, who fought unsuccessfully against its takeover by Trump-worshiping zealots. “The ironic twist to this story is that polling has shown over the past several months that voters are getting restless about what they see as the decline of Colorado in terms of education, energy, roads and transportation.”
Just last week, the annual Colorado Health Foundation issued its annual Pulse Poll, a dour report card on the state of the state that found three-quarters of respondents were concerned they may not be able to live there in the future.
But don’t expect Democrats to lose their sovereignty anytime soon.
That’s what happens when a party and its voters stop seriously competing and instead indulge their passions and fever dreams. You get candidates, and political caricatures, like Victor Marx.
England head coach Charlotte Edwards praised her side’s performance in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final, insisting “our time will come”, after England are beaten by seven wickets by Australia at Lord’s.
Death in Paradise star Ralf Little has been acting for over three decades, and he has reflected on nearly 30 years since his Royle Family journey began.
17:50, 22 Jun 2026Updated 17:57, 22 Jun 2026
The BBC star left the drama in 2024(Image: (Image: BBC))
For four years, Death in Paradise audiences watched Ralf Little portray Detective Inspector Neville Parker in the enduring BBC drama. The actor departed the programme in 2024, with Don Gilet assuming the role as the lead DI in the cherished show.
However, prior to solving crimes in the BBC series, Ralf was recognised as Jonny Keogh in the sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.
His acting journey commenced over three decades ago when he featured as Robbie in the 1990s ITV children’s drama Children’s Ward, which he credits with securing him a part in The Royle Family, the breakthrough that propelled his career.
In a clip he posted on Instagram from the programme Ricky & Ralf’s Very Northern Road Trip, he detailed the audition process for becoming Antony Royle, reports the Express.
He captioned the post: “It’s been nearly 30 years since my Royle Family journey began! It all started after I was on an ITV drama called ‘Children’s Ward’, which also launched the careers of Danny Dyer and Stephen Graham. Here’s the backstory, taken from ‘Ricky & Ralf’s Very Northern Road Trip’.”
Ralf told Ricky: “I’d done a few episodes of that, and I can only assume that Caroline (Aherne) and Craig (Cash), when they were doing the Royle Family, they couldn’t be bothered seeing hundreds of kids, like what normally happens.
“They said, ‘Just send three or four lads that you know’. I walked in, I sat down, and I read the script with them. I must’ve have been in the room more than three minutes, four minutes tops.
“I walked out going, ‘I did nothing, nothing interesting, nothing different’. Got to my car, got a parking ticket that was £50, which I couldn’t afford. It was like, ‘This is the worst day of my life. Got in the car, drove home back to Bury, got in, this was before mobile phones.
“I walked in, and my mum said, ‘Just had a phone call from Granada, they offered you the part’ before I’d even got home! Never happens like that, it was bonkers.”
It didn’t take long for the comments to flood in, with fans quick to reminisce about his iconic past role. One person said: “So glad they picked you to be in The Royle Family, leading to an amazing career for a fantastic actor.”
Another wrote: “Still going strong & still an incredible actor. Well done Ralf.” A third chimed in: “Right choice! And this was just the beginning of a versatile, great career. Thx for so many wonderful TV moments.”
One follower added: “Great story. Time is flying.” While another remarked: “Dang, I can’t believe it is going to be almost 30 years.”
Ricky & Ralf’s Very Northern Road Trip is available to watch on U.
Maja Chwalinska’s French Open ended almost three weeks after it started – but her journey to the brink of a first Grand Slam title began long before that.
A former Australian Open junior doubles finalist alongside fellow Pole Iga Swiatek, Chwalinska has spoken openly about the depression that led her to take a break from tennis early in her professional career.
In the build-up to Roland Garros, she was playing events on the second tier of the women’s tour across Europe.
Her French Open campaign began in the first round of qualifying on Monday, 18 May. Nine wins later, only teenager Mirra Andreeva stood in the way of Chwalinska becoming just the second qualifier to win a Grand Slam singles title in the Open era.
It was not to be for Chwalinska, who fell 6-3 6-2 to Andreeva on Saturday, but finishing runner-up will have a profound effect on her life and career.
She will climb from 114th in the world to a new high of 21st on Monday, while her Roland Garros prize money of 1.4m euros (£1.21m) is almost double what she had previously earned in her entire career.
“It’s been 18 years of hard work, patience and perseverance,” said 24-year-old Chwalinska, who took up tennis as a young girl.
“I had to go through so much to be in this position. Life is weird sometimes and you’ve just got to do your thing and believe it will click someday, and I’m happy that it did.
“It is definitely an unforgettable three weeks for me. I’ll never forget it.”
The nation’s financial advisor admitted there was a connection between the date he found himself writing his awards acceptance speech and the day his mum died when he was a young boy
22:36, 10 May 2026Updated 22:37, 10 May 2026
Martin Lewis got emotional while looking back on his childhood as he received a BAFTA special award(Image: Getty Images for BAFTA)
Martin Lewis has reflected on his childhood as a “broken, scared boy” who “barely left the house” as he picked up a BAFTA special award for his work in the TV industry.
The financial journalist and broadcaster, 54, was acknowledged for his dedication to helping the nation change the way it thinks about money, and had previously been hailed by Bafta as “the most trusted man on television”.
The Money Saving Expert gave an emotional speech after being presented with the prize by Richard Osman, during the award show at Royal Festival Hall on Sunday night.
The Manchester-born broadcaster opened his speech by joking that his Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV, which he has hosted since 2012, is “basically a powerpoint presentation with a Q&A after”.
He added: “TV doesn’t have to be format-driven. People will embrace something actionable, something real, something that helps. They will even embrace complexity, if we make it worth it.”
Growing visibly emotional, Lewis admitted he wrote the speech on Thursday, 42 years after his mother’s sudden death days before his 12th birthday.
He said: “For six years, barring school, I barely left the house. Now I’m picking up a BAFTA. For all those of you out there struggling with your own demons, know this: life can be transformed, it can get better.
“If you had told that broken, scared boy that I’d proudly be a campaigning journalist, his jaw would have dropped. So I dedicate this to consumer journalism, where I found my fire.”
Lewis continued: “It’s not seen as sexy, sadly, but in recent years, it’s helped people navigate pandemic support, pushed governments to backtrack on energy hikes, legislate against scam ads – though far more is needed on that – and against aggressive, destructive council tax debt collection and far more.”
He also issued a plea to Rachel Reeves, criticising the “morally wrong” freezing of the repayment threshold for plan 2 student loans, which is due next year, saying: “Chancellor, please.”
He continued: “That power to hold power to account with trust and impartiality is needed more than ever in our fractured world.”
Lewis wrapped up the speech by thanking his viewers, who “don’t just watch, but act and save a shedload” and that his audience is “what keeps me doing this”.
He also thanked his wife of almost 20 years, Lara Lewington, and their daughter Sapphire. Through his decades-long career as a financial expert, Lewis has become known as a consumer champion who provides tips on issues such as debt and consumer rights through his broadcasting work and his website.
He was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2014 and a CBE in the New Year Honours in 2022, for his services to consumer rights and charitable services.
The BAFTA special award is one of the academy’s highest honours and previous recipients include historian and broadcaster David Olusoga, comedian Sir Lenny Henry, TV presenter Cilla Black and actor Idris Elba.
