Posted on 05/15/2008 11:13:03 PM PDT by Amendment10
I saw the list of likely retiring justices last year but didn't think to bookmark the page. Does anybody know who they are? Likely Stephens, Ginsburg.
I understand that the tradition for justices is to not retire during an election year to spare the country the additional burden of nominee hearings.
In this round of retirements, outgoing Constitution-ignoring justices are of course hoping to be replaced by other Constitution-ignoring justices nominated by either Obama or Clinton.
Sorry. That’s Stevens, not Stephens.
Well, I would say that Stevens (who is 86) and Ginsberg (who is sick) would be the first to leave. Souter, Scalia, Kennedy and Breyer will be middle 70’s ... I think Thomas is late 60’s right now.
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/biographiescurrent.pdf
Stevens, born in 1920 — just turned 88 on April 20 —
Ginsburg, born in 1933 — 75 now
Also note that judges who are in their seventies now, will be 80+ within the next 9 years.
Scalia ( born in 1936), Kennedy (born 1936), Souter (born in 1939), Breyer born in 1939 ,
Only Roberts (1955) , Alito (1950) and Thomas (1948) are young enough to likely last a while, barring anything disastrous.
In the next 9 years, there may be 6 justices retiring or passing on.
Do we really want their replacements selected by Obama?
If Scalia needed to leave, for instance, he would do it THIS year to ensure that Bush picked his replacement. Retirements are either unavoidable or they are timed to ensure that they are not replaced by a President who ideologically disagrees with them. If McCain won, Stevens might retire but Ginsburg would not leave her spot even if she were on a respirator and a dialysis machine. But if Obama wins, look for Ginsburg, Stevens and maybe one more to suddenly ‘need to spend more time with the family’ so that Obama can pick another extreme leftist activist to replace them and keep their holy grail safe.
Wise up. Juan isn't going to propose anyone that won't be confirmed by his Senate buddies who are honest enough to put a D after their name. Also, can you say, "Gang of 14"? The "who do you want picking SCOTUS judges?" argument is lost on me.
2 rules.
1. Judges don’t retire in election years.
2. 2 judges don’t retire at the same time.
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