Posted on 06/29/2006 8:54:45 PM PDT by dangus
As the Supreme Court wraps up its session, there has been so far fairly little attention paid to the fact that this is when U.S. Supreme Court retirements are typically announced. All of the last 14 retirements were announced between May 14th and October 1st of their respective years; the last to retire outside of those dates was Charles Whittaker, whose doctor ordered him to retire on account of a worsening disability making it impossible for him to sit at his bench. Of those 14, 9 announced their retirement between June 12 and August 3rd, a space of only seven weeks.
(That includes Sandra Day O'Connor, who announced her retirement on July 1st, pending her replacement. Just as her replacement was to be named in early September, Chief Justice William Renquist died, and her replacement was instead chosen to replace him. She finally left the court on January 31st of the following year.)
Given the recent drama in replacing Sandra Day O'Connor and Chief Justice Renquist, one might expect that there will now be a lull. There is no reason to expect that there will be. Liberal John Paul Stevens is 86 years old, and while there is no reason to expect him to be true to his word, given his history of contradictory rulings, he did claim he would retire under a Republican president. He is older than any of his colleagues on the court ever were; Harry Blackmun was the oldest, about 5 months youner. On the other hand, he might want to break some records, such as Oliver Wendell Holmes' record for oldest serving justice, or William O. Douglas' record for longest term. He is almost 3 years, and 4 years short of those marks, respectively. If he isn't out to meet some personal goal, history suggests he will soon retire; his longevity and age are both statistical outliers already.
The next most likely to retire is Liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She has faced health struggles. God forbid anyone think I'm routing for her to fall ill; her ailments seem safely in the past. But such battles do age people, and, at 73 years old, she is in the prime years for a Supreme Court Justice to retire.
It is not unthinkable that conservative Antonin Scalia might want to step down while President Bush is still in office; he is already 70. Center-left judge Anthony Kennedy, and liberals Steven Breyer and David Souter are also past government retirement age, at nearly 70, 68 and 67 years old.
These are the ages of each current justice:
John Paul Stevens, 86 years, 2 months
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 73 years, 3 months
x-Antonin Scalia, 70 years, 3 months
Anthony Kennedy, 69 years, 11 months
Steven Breyer, 67 years, 10 months
David Souter, 66 years, 9 months
x-Clarence Thomas, 58 years, 0 months
x-Samuel Alito, 56 years, 2 months
x-John Roberts, 51 years, 6 months
These are the ages of some of the recent judges who retired very late:
Harry Blackmun, 85 years, 9 months
Thurgood Marshall, 83 years, 2 months
x-William Renquist, 80 years, 11 months
Lewis Powell, 79 years, 9 months
Warren Burger, 79 years, 0 months
x-Byron White, 76 years, 0 months
Sandra Day O'Connor, 75 years, 10 months
These are the retirement dates of the last fourteen justices to retire:
Abe Fortas, May 14th
Tom Clark, June 12th
Earl Warren, June 23rd
Lewis Powell, June 26th
Byron White, June 28th
Sandra Day O'Connor: Announced July 1st, postponed until January 31st due to Renquist's death
Potter Stewart, July 3rd
William Brennan, July 20th
Arthur Goldberg, July 25th
Harry Blackmun, August 3rd
William Renquist: September 3rd (died in office)
John Harlan, September 23rd
Warren Burger, September 26th
Thurgood Marshall, October 1
"Nancy Boys" can be rather prissy....
Scalia's having too much fun to retire. You can tell he loves his job. And he looks extremely healthy. We need his brilliance a while longer.
This post has been republished at the confirmthem blog site.
I'm sorry. I don't catch your drift....Could you explain what you mean, for a slower person like me?
Well, checks and balances are about balancing opposing forces. If they see themselves as some kind of a check against Roberts, then they see themselves as opposing Roberts, and doing so on completely illegitimate grounds. Roberts, by nature, likes to govern by consensus and, as a matter of legal philosophy, hates to overturn an earlier decision by the Supreme Court. Waging a petit war against Roberts could help him become a more strident conservative. And since he will inevitably outlast the three justice-bandits, turning him more conservative could only be devestatingly counter-productive.
**heh-heh**
I appreciate your explanation. What you say makes sense. Thank you.
You're very welcomed. It's almost disarming that someone simply ask for an explanation on FR. =^D
When we were newlyweds, my mother-in-law repeatedly told my husband and me that, in many situations, it's better to ask questions, than pretend to understand something.
It's nice to know that people like you are willing to take the time to explain your ideas.
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