Yes, and for very similar reasons as Nix. Additionally, I can't say how much I wish Kennedy would retire. How quickly he's gone from "moderate" to "dinosaur."
We're in a transitionary period. Not all that terribly long ago, slavery - slavery - was considered constitutionally acceptable. Beyond unthinkable now. Remember, our abolition came well after western Europe's, particularly England's, and only after a civil war. Point is, society in America really is moving forward at this point in time, at least socially. Five old guys in black robes should never, ever be permitted to hold back that progress.
He was never a moderate, he's a libertarian.
The other part of my reasoning was that he also is older than what a lot of people think. As to your point, in ways, but his record on police power is surely not libertarian, and he's probably very center-right on social issues at this point in time.
We'll see how he rules in the Hobby Lobby case, which I think could have really broad ramifications. It really could conceivably allow corporations (probably more local, smaller companies), using the "person" argument, to opt out of all kinds of laws and regulations that are "morally offensive." So we'll see how limited a win Hobby Lobby gets.
As is typical, Kennedy gave indication that he could go either way on the Hobby Lobby case. He was very skeptical of a company pushing its religious beliefs on employees, which is precisely what Hobby Lobby is doing, but then he pivoted abruptly and said that to rule against Hobby Lobby could lead to companies being forced to pay for abortions. A lot of people went, "Huh?" because it's a poor hypothetical for a lot of reasons. So we shall see.
