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Jfk Majority Opinion Analysis

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Jfk Majority Opinion Analysis
Thomas Maxwell
4A
Current Event #4

Back in October Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy gave a nearly irrelevant opinion. The case being about Civil Rights of a jury and his opinion being about the inadequate conditions faced by the inmates in solitary confinement. At the same time Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas disapproved of Justice Kennedy’s claim and went as far as to say “a far sight more spacious than those in which his victims,” regarding to how the conditions of these prisons are much better than the alternative of being in a coffin. The article then goes to mention the many instances that Supreme Court Judges use their power of writing dissenting opinions, and how certain legal historians such as Melvin Urofsky have realized …show more content…
An opinion that a Supreme Court Justice may write regarding a court case’s verdict that the particular justice doesn’t agree with due to how they feel the constitution should be interpreted. Other opinions that are given are Majority opinions- which are what the majority of the justices agree should be the verdict, and Concurring opinions- which are given by justices that agree with the majority opinion but have other reasons why they think their opinion is correct due to the different ways the justices interpret the constitution. Other concepts brought up in the article were the ideas of judicial activism- when a justice makes a decision based on what they personally feel rather than judicial restraint- when a justice makes a decision based strictly on current laws.

Justice Kennedy gave his opinion on the case about Civil Rights which protect citizens from discrimination using the due process clause of the 14th amendment. On the other hand, Civil Liberties are the rights given to citizens incorporated through the first ten amendments a.k.a. the Bill of Rights.

Lithwick, Dahlia. "‘Dissent and the Supreme Court,’ by Melvin I. Urofsky." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 24 Oct. 2015. Web. 13 Dec.
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