Supreme Court Justice Kennedy took several veiled shots at Trump while upholding his controversial travel ban

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Supreme Court Justice Kennedy took several veiled shots at Trump while upholding his controversial travel ban

Anthony Kennedy

Carolyn Kaster (Associated Press)

President Donald Trump, left, and Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy participate in a public swearing-in ceremony for Justice Neil Gorsuch in the Rose Garden of the White House.

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  • Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy seemed to partly rebuke President Donald Trump in his concurring opinion in Tuesday's decision on Trump's travel ban.
  • While Kennedy upheld the travel ban, he warned that government officials are not "free to disregard the Constitution and the rights it proclaims and protects."
  • Kennedy, 81, is rumored to be retiring soon.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy was in the majority opinion for Tuesday's ruling upholding the Trump administration's ban on immigrants from majority-Muslim countries, but his opinion seemed to take some shots at President Donald Trump and his attitude toward immigration.

The case, Trump v. Hawaii, revolved around the Trump administration's third attempt to enact restrictions on immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations. The court agreed with the the Trump administration's defense that the ban is justified by legitimate national security concerns, but the plaintiffs said it constituted religious discrimination.

In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that such a ban fell well within the administration's jurisdiction and authority over national security and immigration policy, and was reasonably backed by national security concerns.

In his concurring opinion, however, Kennedy sent a not-so-subtle warning to Trump about how his words and policies could come into conflict with the fundamental principles of the Constitution.

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"There are numerous instances in which the statements and actions of Government officials are not subject to judicial scrutiny or intervention," Kennedy wrote. "That does not mean those officials are free to disregard the Constitution and the rights it proclaims and protects."

"It is an urgent necessity that officials adhere to these constitutional guarantees and mandates in all their actions, even in the sphere of foreign affairs," he continued. "An anxious world must know that our Government remains committed always to the liberties the Constitution seeks to preserve and protect, so that freedom extends outward, and lasts."

Kennedy, who is 81 and was appointed to the court by President Ronald Reagan, has been rumored to be retiring soon. Throughout his career, he has been considered to be a "swing vote" on the court, often being the deciding vote on key cases.

Law professor Richard Hasen, writing in Slate, sees Kennedy's partial rebuke of Trump as an expression of "depressing defeatism" regarding the court's ability to rein in elected officials whose actions contradict the spirit of the Constitution.

On the other hand, some legal analysts such as CNN's Jeffrey Toobin wondered after Tuesday's opinion whether Kennedy will hold off on retiring during Trump's first term so that Trump cannot have another seat to fill with a conservative justice.

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Trump nominated current Justice Neil Gorsuch to fill the seat vacated by the death of Antonin Scalia in January 2017.

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