Constitutional Law

Ginsburg's Surgery Draws Attention to SCOTUS Retirements

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is scheduled to speak at ACS's 2009 National Convention on June 18,  announced last week that she recently underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer. Scotusblog’s Tom Goldstein immediately called off the “RGB retirement watch before it start[ed].” However, many journalists and bloggers dedicated headlines to Justice Ginsburg’s illness and her potential replacements, including the Washington Post and WSJ Law Blog.

Goldstein makes the point in a subsequent post that Ginsburg’s illness, while not indicative that she may soon retire, makes it more likely that some Justice may step down during the summer of 2009. He also discusses the practice Justices often follow regarding consecutive retirements.

“Justices tend to retire (a) in the run up to the summer recess (permitting confirmation hearings before the Court returns in the Fall), (b) in separate years (to avoid the complications of multiple Supreme Court confirmation hearings in a single summer), and (c) not in election years (to avoid the prospect that the confirmation will be obstructed in order to allow for a new President to make the appointment or a new Senate majority to obstruct or facilitate it),” Goldstein observed. “On that understanding, there are three summers available for retirements during this Presidency – 2009, 2010, and 2011.”

Before news of Ginsburg’s illness, the conventional wisdom was that Justices John Paul Stevens (88), David Souter (69) and possibly Ginsburg (75) herself were likely to step down before the 2012 election cycle. While the announcement of Ginsburg’s illness does not alter this list of potential retirements, it may add a sense of urgency to the candidates’ considerations.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on February 09, 2009 (boomark / email).