2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumWho and How Many Supreme Court Justices Will Be Retiring?
I'm hoping Ruth Nader Ginsburg and 'dreaming' Scalia. (ha!) Any predictions or rumors?
elleng
(131,129 posts)Well, it's her health scare. I'd hate to see her stay in and God forbid have a Republican step in in 2016 and appoint a conservative judge when she eventually does retire. I also thought I heard her say something to the effect that she is thinking about it. Don't get me wrong, I like her. I'm just concerned with her health and age.
Sekhmets Daughter
(7,515 posts)I think she won't gamble on the 2016 election and will retire during Obama's second term...
BlueDemKev
(3,003 posts)It's like William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall were holding on during the Reagan years hoping that a Democrat would be elected in '88 and then they could retire knowing that they'd be replaced by like-minded judges. Unfortunately, Dukakis blew it and the two men just couldn't hold on until Clinton came along in '92.
Hosnon
(7,800 posts)Her health isn't top notch and her position is too valuable to risk it being filled by a Republican president.
asjr
(10,479 posts)Obama is reelected.
Sekhmets Daughter
(7,515 posts)Sekhmets Daughter
(7,515 posts)but short of that it will be Bader-Ginsburg (which breaks my heart) and perhaps Justice Breyer....Clinton appointees. There is a slim chance Reagan appointee Anthony Kennedy may retire. He has never been as rabidly partisan as Scalia and Thomas.
RomneyLies
(3,333 posts)He needs to cut his cholesterol.
Send him sausages.
Sekhmets Daughter
(7,515 posts)Thanks for the belly laugh.
defacto7
(13,485 posts)Scalia is old but unfortunately, he's in great health; he'll be around for a while. Thomas is not in good health. Other than Bader-Ginsburg retiring, he's the most likely to drop out because of health or just kick it. I don't know about Kennedy's health.
Scalia is the one I really want to see gone, but it's not likely.
TDale313
(7,820 posts)Ginsburg and Breyer will probably retire and allow Obama to appoint someone left of center, protecting those two seats from the right wing crazies for the next 20, 25 years. Love to see any of the 4 more conservative justices retire, but feels unlikely. Possibly Scalia. The biggest game changer might be Kennedy. That would change the composition of the court dramatically, and he's no spring chicken.
Gidney N Cloyd
(19,847 posts)Justice James Wilson.....................1789 - 1798...............Washington
Justice William Cushing..................1790 - 1810...............Washington
Justice James Iredell......................1790 - 1799...............Washington
Justice William Paterson.................1793 - 1806...............Washington
Justice Samuel Chase....................1796 - 1806...............Washington
Justice Bushrod Washington...........1799 - 1829................Adams
Chief Justice John Marshall.............1801 - 1835................Adams
Justice William Johnson.................1804 - 1834................Jefferson
Justice Henry Livingston................1807 - 1823................Jefferson
Justice Thomas Todd.....................1807 - 1826................Jefferson
Justice Joseph Story......................1812 - 1845................Madison
Justice Smith Thompson................1823 - 1843................Monroe
Justice Robert Trimble...................1826 - 1828................Adams, JQ
Justice John McLean......................1830 - 1861...............Jackson
Justice Henry Baldwin...................1830 - 1844................Jackson
Justice James M. Wayne................1835 - 1867................Jackson
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney..........1836 - 1864................Jackson
Justice Pendleton Barbour..............1836 - 1841................Jackson
Justice John Catron......................1837 - 1865.................Jackson
Justice John McKinley....................1838 - 1852................Van Buren
Justice Peter V. Daniel...................1842 - 1860................Van Buren
Justice Levi Woodbury...................1845 - 1851................Polk
Justice Nathan Clifford..................1858 - 1881................Buchanan
Justice Freeman Miller...................1862 - 1890................Lincoln
Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase........1864 - 1873................Lincoln
Justice Joseph P. Bradley...............1870 - 1892................Grant
Chief Justice Morrison Waite..........1874 - 1888................Grant
Justice John Marshall Harlan I........1877 - 1911................Hayes
Justice William B. Woods...............1881 - 1887................Hayes
Justice Stanley Matthews..............1881 - 1889................Garfield
Justice Horace Gray......................1882 - 1902................Arthur
Justice Samuel Blatchford.............1882 - 1893................Arthur
Justice Lucius Lamar.....................1888 - 1893................Cleveland
Chief Justice Melville Fuller............1888 - 1910................Cleveland
Justice David Brewer....................1890 - 1910.................Harrison, B
Justice Howell Jackson..................1893 - 1895................Harrison, B
Chief Justice Edward D. White........1894 - 1921................Cleveland/Taft
Justice Rufus Wheeler Peckham.....1896 - 1909................Cleveland
Justice Horace Lurton...................1910 - 1914................Taft
Justice Joseph R. Lamar................1911 - 1916................Taft
Justice Pierce Butler......................1923 - 1939................Harding
Justice Edward Terry Sanford.........1923 - 1930................Harding
Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone..........1924 - 1946................Coolidge/Roosevelt, F.
Justice Benjamin Cardozo..............1932 - 1938................Hoover
Justice Frank Murphy....................1940 - 1949................Roosevelt, F
Justice Robert H. Jackson..............1941 - 1954................Roosevelt, F
Justice Wiley Blount Rutledge........1943 - 1949................Roosevelt, F
Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson..........1946 - 1953................Truman
Chief Justice William Rehnquist......1972 - 2005................Nixon/Reagan
Andy Stanton
(264 posts)And Scalia, Alito and Thomas will get caught up in some major scandal and have to resign.
JiminyJominy
(340 posts)all have the age (as does Scalia).
Ginsburg: 80% chance of retiring
Kennedy: 60% chance of retiring
Bryer: 40% chance of retiring
that brings us to Scalia....
he is a bitter bitter man who hates and despises the left more than anything else in this world. there is NO WAY he retires while Obama's in office. he will consider it though if Romney wins.
even if Obama gets 2 appointments that would be pretty awesome. if he gets 3...that'll be a great bonus. if he gets 4....i will make a mess in my pants as will other supporters of left leaning policies especially RoeVWade.