Pacific McGeorge Law Hopes to See More of Kennedy Post-SCOTUS
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi[/caption] The U.S. Supreme Court’s loss of Justice Anthony Kennedy due to retirement might be the University of Pacific McGeorge School of Law’s gain. Faculty at the Sacramento law school where Kennedy has taught as an adjunct since 1965 are hoping that the justice’s retirement—announced Wednesday at the close of the court’s term—means he will become an even more familiar face on campus. “He would be more than welcome. I think every law school in the country would love to have him around campus,” said Francis “Jay” Mootz, dean of the law school from 2012 to 2017. “Given his deep connection to the law school and his connection to Sacramento, I’m hopeful that we’ll see a bit more of him.” Indeed, Kennedy is slated to co-teach a course on freedom of expression in Europe and the U.S. in the law school’s summer program in Salzburg, Austria, which runs July 1-20. It will be Kennedy’s 28th time teaching in the international program, which typically draws about 40 students.
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Current dean Michael Hunter Schwartz said Wednesday that he has been in talks with Kennedy to co-teach a weekend course next spring on Supreme Court judicial decision-making. “I’m crossing my fingers, because he’s a fabulous teacher,” said Schwartz, whose call with this reporter was interrupted when Kennedy himself rang up to accept Schwartz’ congratulations. (Kennedy mentioned “more time to teach” on that call, according to Schwartz.) Schwartz recalled watching Kennedy teach in Salzburg last summer when the class was discussing a U.S. Supreme Court case. He asked a student to play the role of the lawyer and articulate the argument. “She gives her answer and he says, ‘Well, that really isn’t what I was looking for.’ And then he pauses. ‘It’s better,’" Schwartz recalled. “I Looked around the room and everyone was just smiling. It was delivered with so much warmth.” Just as he is a regular in Salzburg, Kennedy also makes routine appearances on the Sacramento campus. Mootz said he has come to the school about once a year, missing the occasional year due to schedule constraints. Kennedy delivered remarks at a black-tie event for McGeorge two years ago, but prefers to keep his visits low key. Usually, the school does not announce his visits and Kennedy pops into a classroom and teaches Constitutional Law for an hour or more. On several occasions, Kennedy set up in the schools’ auditorium and just take questions from students. “He is very approachable,” Mootz said. “Students feel comfortable asking him questions.” Kennedy’s ties go back to the 1960s, when he was a practicing attorney in his native Sacramento. (Kennedy graduated from Harvard Law School in 1961.) He taught Constitutional Law at McGeorge from 1965 to 1988, when he was confirmed to the Supreme Court. Kennedy was close with Gordon Schaber, who was dean from 1957 to 1991, and who oversaw McGeorge’s transformation from an independent night law school to an American Bar Association-accredited law school that is part of a larger university. “He was not just an adjunct, as many judges are,” Mootz said. “Back when he was a practicing lawyer, he really was part of the group that had a vision for the law school. Along with Gordon Schaber and other senior faculty members, Kennedy really helped to shape the course of the law school.” And Kennedy remains genuinely interested in what’s happening on campus, said Schwartz, whom Kennedy refers to as “boss.” (Schwartz called that moniker “the most absurd thing in the universe.”) Over the years, McGeorge students have also been privy to the retiring justice’s wit and sense of humor. “One time a student asked, ‘How has technology changed the work of the court?’” Mootz recalled. “He sort of paused and said, ‘It took me 10 years to get Justice Souter to use a No. 2 pencil.’ Everyone cracked up.”
