Justice: Changing course on the bench is not weakness

WASHINGTON (AP) - Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy says a willingness to change course on the bench is not an indication of weakness, but rather a sign of "fidelity to your judicial oath."

Kennedy told a meeting of international lawyers in Washington Friday that judges must be willing to re-examine their premises. His remarks sounded like a partial explanation of his votes in two recent cases involving race, in which he uncharacteristically sided with liberal justices.

Kennedy has rarely voted to uphold racial preferences in more than 28 years on the Supreme Court. Yet he cast the crucial vote and wrote the court's opinion in June to allow the University of Texas to consider race in admissions. He also was the decisive vote in 2015 to preserve certain kinds of housing discrimination claims.