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Justice Kennedy has second surgery on artery

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After suffering from mild heart pain during the weekend, Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy was hospitalized for a "routine procedure" to keep an artery open, the court said.

Doctors inserted a stent Saturday to supplement a stent placed in the artery about 10 months ago. The associate justice was released from the Washington Hospital Center on Sunday and was back at work Tuesday.

A stent is a short, metal mesh tube used to keep arteries open.

"This was a revision to a stent procedure performed in November 2005," the court said in a written statement. "There was no evidence of heart damage. He was discharged from the hospital Sunday morning and has returned to his duties at the court."

Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg told The Wall Street Journal that Kennedy was at work at 6 a.m. Tuesday and that "he plans to play golf this week."

The court's new term begins October 2.

A 70-year-old moderate conservative, Kennedy has been considered the key swing vote since Justice Sandra Day O'Connor retired earlier this year after 24 terms on the High Court's bench.

President Ronald Reagan appointed Kennedy to the court in 1988 after the Senate shot down Robert Bork's nomination. Kennedy had served on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for 13 years before the appointment.

CNN's Bill Mears contributed to this story.

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