The story
From the case of Kennedy v. Frazier, 178 W.Va. 10, 357 S.E.2d 43 (1987), in which the procedure was upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Kennedy plea
Today it means: A plea in criminal court in which the defendant does not admit guilt, but concedes that the state has sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction. Full definition →