Kennard, 67, the longest-serving member of the court, has never "marched in step" with the other justices, said Santa Clara University Law Professor Gerald Uelmen, an authority on the court.
She wrote more dissents during the last term than any other justice and led the court in concurring opinions, a sign that she sticks to her views even when she agrees with the majority on a ruling.
She is viewed as inflexible when it comes to her principles and refuses to budge on even relatively minor matters of the law. Analysts have found signs that some of Kennard's dissents may actually have begun as majority opinions, suggesting that she refused to modify them to keep the needed votes.
Her personal and professional life also has been marked with contradictions and surprises. Former Gov. George Deukmejian nominated Kennard to the court after he helped spearhead a campaign to oust Chief Justice Rose Bird and two other liberals from the court.
Once at the court, Kennard enjoyed a behind-the-scenes friendship with Bird.
Kennard voted so often with the late Justice Stanley Mosk, whose liberal views stood out on the conservative court, that the pair was dubbed "the odd couple."
During oral argument, Kennard tends to be the most vocal justice, sometimes to the visible irritation of her colleagues. Her questions and demeanor can signal how the court is leaning.
Kate Kendell, who heads the National Center for Lesbian Rights, came away from last March's hearing on same-sex marriage encouraged that gays would prevail. Kendell cited Kennard's joyous, even bubbly demeanor.
Kennard's empathy for minority groups may stem in part from her life story. She was born in Indonesia to parents who were of Dutch, Indonesian, Chinese and German descent and suffered an impoverished childhood, confined to an internment camp in Java during the Japanese occupation of the region.
A tumor required doctors to amputate her right leg above the knee when she was in her teens, and she walks with a prosthesis and a cane.
At 20, she moved to the U.S. and landed work as a secretary. With a $5,000 bequest from her mother and scholarships, she started her formal education at Pasadena City College and earned her law degree and a master's of public administration from USC.
Now that the court is reviewing Proposition 8's constitutionality, Kennard and Chief Justice Ronald M. George, who wrote the May 15 marriage ruling, will be key to whatever the court decides, said Santa Clara's Uelmen.
