The Bolch Judicial Institute of Duke Law School presented Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy with the inaugural Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law on April 11.
Established in 2018 with the creation of the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law, the Bolch Prize is a central component of the Institute’s efforts to support and further the rule of law in the United States and around the world. By honoring those who do this work, the Bolch Prize draws attention to the ideals of justice and judicial independence and to the constitutional structures and safeguards that undergird a free society.
When presenting the award, Bolch Judicial Institute Director and ALI President David F. Levi said of Justice Kennedy:
How perfect that Justice Kennedy is our first recipient. Over the course of his long career as a circuit judge and a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Kennedy has been a dedicated, unceasing advocate for the rule of law. It is fair to say that he has been our Rule of Law Ambassador.
President Levi continued:
In [remarks presented] to The American Law Institute in 1991, Justice Kennedy referred to United States constitutionalism as “exportable technology” and over the years he has repeatedly called upon all of us to join him in making the case for democracy, for freedom, and for the rule of law and to share these precious concepts and ideals with a watching and skeptical world. And, of course, he exhorts us to be worthy of our constitutional tradition, and to strengthen and expand it in our own time.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. also gave remarks about Justice Kennedy’s legacy. Read more about the presentation here.