Raymond Kethledge

Raymond Kethledge is being considered to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court left by Justice Anthony Kennedy's resignation. Judge Kethledge currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Judge Kethledge is not pro-life. He joined a decision that favorably cited a precedent censoring a pro-life advertisement, and held against allowing a Christian advertisement too. Am. Freedom Def. Initiative v. Suburban Mobility Auth. for Reg'l Transp., 698 F.3d 885 (6th Cir. 2012).

Judge Kethledge is not pro-Second Amendment either. He refused to join a concurring opinion by conservative Judge Danny Boggs that sought to strengthen the Second Amendment by establishing a "strict scrutiny" standard of review for laws that infringe on it. Tyler v. Hillsdale Cnty. Sheriff's Dep't, 837 F.3d 678, 702 (6th Cir. 2016) (Boggs, J., concurring). In February Justice Clarence Thomas complained about judges failing to use strict scrutiny, as Kethledge failed to do in 2016.

Judge Kethledge ruled 2-1 against Immigration Services to allow an illegal alien, who had illegally overstayed his visa by 10 years, to challenge the denial of a new employment visa application. Patel v. United States Citizenship & Immigration Servs., 732 F.3d 633 (6th Cir. 2013) (Kethledge holding that an illegal alien who had overstayed his prior visa by 10 years nevertheless has legal standing to challenge the denial of a petition for a new employment visa by a new prospective employer). That was too much for even a Clinton-appointed judge, who dissented.

Kethledge would be more liberal than Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court.