Justice says hatred won't stop freedom
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
After celebrating a new millennium that appeared to open a new age for democracy in the world, America may have entered an era "in which the spread of democracy has stalled" in the midst of a wave of "hatred of undiminished ferocity against the United States," Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said here yesterday.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
But Kennedy said the youth of America, the next "trustees" of liberty, are showing themselves ready and willing to defend America's principles in the world, and — at the same time — to understand the needs of billions of people less fortunate than they are.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy says America's youth are ready to defend the nation's principles.
The justice spoke at a meeting of the Rotary Club of Honolulu at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
Kennedy, who long before Sept. 11 deplored Americans' ignorance of Muslim culture and nations, suggested several times yesterday that the terrorists attacked America because of its freedoms.
He said it was natural for Americans to wonder what has caused intense animosity against the country, but said explanations for terror are not excuses for the murder of innocents.
A native of Sacramento, Calif., where he first came to the attention of then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan, Kennedy was nominated by President Reagan in 1988 to the Supreme Court, where he is considered a swing vote among conservative and moderate justices.
Kennedy, who initiated his "Dialogue on Freedom" educational meetings with high school students after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, will hold a similar forum with Punahou high school students today, accompanied by U.S. District Judge Sam King of Honolulu.
The justice, who spent his honeymoon in Hawai'i with his wife, Mary, said yesterday that the state represents to him a place of commencement, new beginnings, a multicultural model for the rest of the world, where pluralism and the American dream of diversity are a happy reality.
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
