Quick facts
Court U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Position circuit
Status Retired 1988
Served 1975–1988
Appointed by Gerald Ford (Republican)
Commissioned 1975-03-24
Education Stanford University, B.A., 1958; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1961
Signed orders read 28
Last updated 2026-07-12
Motion outcomes
AppealN = 25
counts only
6 3 15 1
Petition for reviewN = 2
counts only
1 1
Petition for mandamusN = 1
counts only
1
Counted from classified signed orders. A “1 of 1” is one ruling, not a tendency.
About this data
A free Ezel research resource. This profile is built from public records: the judge's own signed orders, public docket records, and published biographies. It is not legal advice and is not affiliated with the court.
How Judge Kennedy decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Starts with the governing allocation of burdens when deciding whether federal jurisdiction exists.
“The burden of establishing federal jurisdiction rests with the party seeking removal.”
Distinguishes protected advocacy from speech sufficiently connected to criminal conduct to support liability.
“Words alone may constitute a criminal offense, even if they spring from the anterior motive to effect political or social change.”
Avoids constitutional adjudication when a nonconstitutional ground may dispose of the case.
“Since the determination of this constitutional question was unnecessary to the BIA’s resolution of the present case, we vacate its decision and remand”
Requires specific findings before sealing judicial records from public access.
“We grant the requested relief.”
Applies statutory filing deadlines even when an agency's later denial procedure was defective.
“We find the agency's denial of the claim was defective, but nonetheless that the claim was not filed timely with the agency in the first instance.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
United States ex rel. Buxbom v. Naegele Outdoor Advertising Co.
· 1984-08-03
Appeal (defendant-appellant)
Granted
“REVERSED and REMANDED.”
United States v. Harris
· 1984-02-23
Appeal (defendant-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Delaney v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
· 1984-09-21
Appeal (taxpayers-appellants)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Martin v. Donovan
· 1984-04-30
Appeal (employee-appellant)
Granted
“REVERSED and REMANDED.”
Gutierrez v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
· 1984-10-16
Petition for review (noncitizen-petitioner)
Granted
“REMANDED.”
United States v. Martin
· 1984-09-07
Appeal (defendant-appellant)
Granted
“REVERSED and REMANDED.”
Operating Engineers Pension Trust v. Reed
· 1984-02-17
Appeal (trust-and-defendant-cross-appellants)
Granted in part
“REVERSED IN PART and REMANDED.”
United States v. Bell
· 1984-09-07
Appeal (defendant-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Government of Guam v. United States
· 1984-10-04
Appeal (government-plaintiff-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
In re Coordinated Pretrial Proceedings in Petroleum Products Antitrust Litigation
· 1984-11-23
Appeal (state-and-attorney-appellants)
Moot / procedural
“DISMISSED.”
Omni Resource Development Corp. v. Conoco, Inc.
· 1984-08-07
Appeal (plaintiff-appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Dyniewicz v. United States
· 1984-10-18
Appeal (plaintiffs-appellants)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
A historical record
Judge Kennedy no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.