Legal News

WASHINGTON - It comes down to this at the Supreme Court: If you've got Justice Anthony Kennedy on your side, you can pretty much do what you want. Without him, you're the author of an angry dissent. Thursday's decision to strike down restrictions on corporate campaign spending more than 60 years old was the third time in nine days that the court divided 5-4, with liberals on one side and conservatives on the other. The other cases involved an appeal from a death row inmate in Georgia and the prospect of broadcasting a gay marriage trial in California.  As in dozens of earlier cases, Kennedy was in the majority each time. He was the author of the campaign finance decision.  The rulings demonstrate the extent to which ideology ? not fidelity to precedent or a particular interpretation of the Constitution ? is the driving force on the court...