WASHINGTON _ Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has served on the Supreme Court since February 1988 and has been the key, swing vote on the court for much of his tenure. Here are some of the landmark decisions he helped shape:
PLANNED PARENTHOOD VS. CASEY, 1992 _ Kennedy was one of three co-authors of the ruling that preserved Roe vs. Wade and the right to abortion. Along with Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and David H. Souter, Kennedy said the court had granted women the right and should not retreat from that promise.
BUSH VS. GORE, 2000 _ While the court's opinion was unsigned, Kennedy was credited with drafting the ruling that stopped the recount of mail-in ballots in Florida on the grounds that there were no agreed-upon standards for deciding which were valid votes. The ruling made George W. Bush the winner in Florida and the next president.
