Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 77 and in poor heath

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

so Obama will probably get one more appointment in his first term

in the second term
Scalia and Kennedy are 74,Breyer is 72.

Scalia is too evil to retire but Breyer or Kennedy could retire.

[Drunken Irishman]

1. I think Kennedy is our biggest hope of a retirement.

But at 74, he probably has a good ten years left in him before we even broach the subject.

[Toucano]

2. I hate the thought of losing her.

I hope she lives and serves 10 more years.

I hope Kennedy retires first.

[elocs]

19. The word I've heard is that she will retire next year in a nonelection year.

She wants a Democratic president to name her replacement.

[Toasterlad]

29. I'd Like a Democratic President To Name Her Replacement Too.

If only we had one.

[elocs]

44. Apparently she believes we do. I think a few others believe it as well.

At least that's the word out on the street.

[hyphenate]

3. I'd like to think

that Alito, Roberts, and especially Thomas, are on their way out, too, regardless of how that happens. ;)

[lordsummerisle]

5. Roberts is only 55 n/t

[hyphenate]

7. Age has nothing to do with health

The stress could give him a heart attack or some other natural illness. I would like to see him retiring from the stress, moving to Arizona, and help Joe Arpaio turn the state into a sanctuary for rich white folk, if it isn't at that point in reality. (the sarcasm tag could be shown here, but I trust it isn't necessary)

[malaise]

16. LOL

Doesn't he already have some form of epilepsy?

[tekisui]

17. Roberts has a history of seizures.

Anything could happen to any of them.

[WeDidIt]

25. If Kennedy, Scalia, or Thomas left the court, I think Roberts would end up resigning

He doesn't much care for it and doesn't like the money he makes.

[hyphenate]

4. I also think there should be a mandatory retirement age

for ALL justices. Too many doddering fools have made absolutely shitty decisions through the years, probably due to some sort of senility or early onset Alzheimers. (Or, at the least, lack of clear-mindedness.)

[Toucano]

9. That's ridiculous. Shitty decisions come from ideology, not incapacity.

I can't think of a single case where a justice functioned with reduced mental capacity and made a "shitty decision".

Senility and early onset Alzheimers are not like puberty and menopause - they don't happen to everyone automatically.

Age doesn't automatically bring knowledge and wisdom nor does it automatically diminish capacity.

[hyphenate]

13. While the discussion has been about SCOTUS

I confess my mind was firmly centered on Ronald Reagan as I wrote that post. I apologize for any confusion that might have caused. I do, however, believe that we will never likely hear of any justice of the Supreme Court or any lower court having less than lucid moments. That kind of knowledge could wreak havoc in our perception of the court as a rational and objective body of wisdom and law.

[Toucano]

38. Ah, the cone of silence. The big secret everyone keeps.

You cite ONE senior-age government official who was afflicted with Alzheimers, and imply that we simply never hear about the rest.

Yet we heard about Reagan's shortcomings long before he acknowledged his condition himself. The cone of silence didn't protect the holder of the highest office in the land, but it will shelter supreme court justices?

Again, Reagan's big problem was not his condition, but his ideology.

Your statement is ageist, illogical, and wrong.

[depakid]

26. Agreed- for ALL PUBLIC OFFICIALS.

[saltpoint]

6. I've always admired Godzilla. I'm sorry, you Tokyo folks, but that's

how I feel. I've admired his singularity of purpose, his fiery breath, his unpardonably fierce eyes. As film monsters go, Godzilla's strictly top-drawer.

Having said so, I think there's something to be said also for a fantasy in which Godzilla lets fly and abandons his impulse to destroy Tokyo and instead visits us Statesiders, plucks Antonin Scalia from his next hunting trip, shakes him like a baby rattletoy, breathes on him and sets him ablaze, then with an apocalyptic howl, flings him dismissively into the Atlantic Ocean where he is subsequently devoured by ravenous hammerhead sharks by the close of business tomorrow.

Just one person's vision, mind you.

[xxqqqzme]

11. I can see you've put a lot of thought into this

particular fantasy. I must say, I like it!

[saltpoint]

42. - - -

:hi:

[FarLeftFist]

8. Everyone please vote this November so we don't eventually end up with...

Justice Ted Nugent or Justice Victoria Jackson

[CLANG]

10. Rambo and Dumbo

[dems_rightnow]

15. Ted Nugent's opinions

Would certainly make interesting reading for the ages. LOL

[depakid]

27. Democrats voted to confirm Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito

Despite knowing exactly who and what they were. Same with countless other extremists on the federal bench, despite what happened during the Clinton era.

So one can't place all the blame on Republicans-

[TexasObserver]

12. She should retire, and her replacement be under 55 years old.

[Historic NY]

14. Could alway hope the Roberts step down rumor become truth.

[Democat]

28. Which rumor is that?

Link?

[Historic NY]

35. good one.........

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/03/04/breaking-is-john-roberts-about-to-resign-from-the-supreme-court/

[Democat]

37. That's not a rumor, that's my dream!

Something worth praying for! :-)

[Historic NY]

43. YUP...

doesn't hurt...even Patton prayed for good battle weather.

[stray cat]

18. If we lose in 2012 then the repubs decide the supreme court - if you really care vote!

[asksam]

34. Even Better...

... if you care, vote in the 2010 elections. If we can get seven more Senate seats, we can begin work on impeaching and removing the Rethugs from the court.

[WeDidIt]

20. Life expectency for while males is 75.6

Just sayin'.

[dems_rightnow]

24. Only when you are born

Once one has survived to 74, it's about 85.

[Jefferson23]

21. I can't even let myself think about our country losing Ginsberg. n/t

[salguine]

22. Scalia is the kind of malice that lives to be 115 years old, like Dick Cheney.

[Statistical]

23. Kennedy is the only Justice that really matters.

The conservative 4 will wait until a Republican administration before retiring.

The liberal 4 will all retire before end of Obama second term however that doesn't change the balance of the court. The good news is it makes the liberal side younger meaning there is less risk the balance changes to the right over next 20+ years.

So unless a conservative Justice dies the balance of court won't change.

However Kennedy is the utlimate moderate. He may be attracted to Obama stance enough to retire in Obama second term. That would change the balance of the court significantly.

[Beetwasher]

30. We Need Either Scalia Or Kennedy (Or Both!) To Retire

Ginsberg will definitely retire soon as I'm sure she will want Obama to choose her successor. Breyer should consider it during Obama's second term if not sooner, just to be sure Obama gets to replace him.

[asksam]

31. Another way to get rid of rethug judges

Or, if we managed to get 2/3 of the Senate in the election (yeah, I know, I know...) we could begin the push to impeach and remove the Rethug "justices."

[AnArmyVeteran]

32. Why not have a DIGITAL SUPREME COURT?

Using a computer to decide cases:

Hey, to be a 'strict constructionist' is to be completely absolute, meaning a human being is not necessary to consider any grey areas. So why not have a big computer sort out all the cases. It sure would speed things up a lot. To hell with the final decisions. At least everything would adhere to the strictest interpretation of our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

And oh yeah, because of this change we would have to once again make blacks 3/5ths of a human being, strip all women and minorities from voting or owning land and all the other advances that took place because of human involvement ('unstrict' constructionism).

A Digital Court would mean those who write the software would control our law. So instead of having 9 justices, we would have thousands of people writing special codes to favor one group of another.

[RobertPlant]

33. the supreme court has become politicized

in the old days you never had justices wait for a president of their ideology before retiring. Presidents back then chose justices on both sides. Richard Nixon, a republican, chose both a right and left justice with Rehnquist and Blackman. Kennedy, a democrat, chose a right wing justice in Byron White.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

36. LOL...I think you should look at FDR's term to see how politicized the SCOTUS was.

[HughMoran]

39. Somebody send a lifetime supply of bananas to Scalia

:evilgrin:

[Liberal_in_LA]

40. The Obama court! He can totally revamp it

[old mark]

41. Gosh! Do you think Obama will nominate a liberal this time? nt