"Washington is obsessed with the Supreme Court right now, scrutinizing every judicial cough and comment for hidden evidence of illness or retirement plans," Newsweek contributing editor Dahlia Lithwick writes in a "The Verdict" column, which will appear in the April 6 issue of the magazine. According to Lithwick, most of this attention involves the possible retirement of Justices John Paul Stevens, who is nearly 89 years old, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who recently underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer. In addition, there is "speculation" about the retirement of Justice David Souter, "who pines for a return to his New Hampshire home" and recently "described the beginning of each court's term as the start of a 'sort of annual intellectual lobotomy,'" she says. She notes that "justices seem to cling to the tradition of retirement as political jack-in-the-box." According to Lithwick, "One might well imagine a ... round of 'After you, Alphonse,' playing out between Souter, Stevens and Ginsburg this spring as they attempt to sort out their own preferences, then communicate with each other in polite, speculative code."

Ginsburg and Stevens "have actually been very forthcoming about their plans," and "neither seems likely to step aside unless they are forced to," Lithwick says. In addition, "Neither Ginsburg nor Stevens shows any indication of slowing down on the bench, either," she writes, adding, "I think we may want to take them at their word when they tell us they're not planning to go anyplace unless the celestial Court of Highest Appeals issues a differing opinion." In the meantime, this "leaves Washington insiders to speculate and whisper about Souter, and he's not saying much of anything." Lithwick continues that it is "worth remembering here that all the likely suspects for retirement come from the court's reliably liberal wing," which she says means that President Obama will fill an empty seat with "a like-minded reliably liberal centrist." She writes, "In light of the current economic crisis and what is often characterized as the failure of capitalism, the composition of the federal judiciary is perhaps the last winning political issue for conservatives," adding that this "makes the chances of a quiet retirement and a quiet replacement negligible" and "guarantee[s] at least a summer of national turmoil" (Lithwick, Newsweek, 4/6).

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