The blogosphere has been full of speculation about whether and when Chief Justice Rehnquist will announce his retirement at the end of the Supreme Court’s current term, a.k.a. the end of June. The conservative blog ConfirmThem confidently reported earlier this month that Rehnquist would step down within four weeks. However, as Lyle Denniston noted in a post entitled The Rehnquist Riddle on the Supreme Court Nomination Blog, while there are numerous reasons (his age, the lack of a Congressional election this year) to think that the Chief Justice will retire, there are also numerous other reasons (his apparently rallying health, his pride) to think he will not. Even Article III Groupie, the provider of “news, gossip, and colorful commentary about the federal judiciary,” got into the act by noting that Justice O’Connor hired only three clerks for next year, and offering “her personal (and completely unsubstantiated) theory” that Justice O’Connor “is saving a fourth spot for one of Chief Justice Rehnquist's hires, in case the Chief retires from the Supreme Court at the end of this Term.”
Whew! Well, Chief Justice has not let us in on his plans, but we can add a bit of historical perspective. Over the last several decades, late June has been a very popular time for Supreme Court Justice retirements, and, to a lesser extent, nomination announcements. Here are the details:
Retiring Justice |
Retirement Announcement |
New Nominee |
Nomination Date |
Harry Blackmun |
April 6, 1994 |
Stephen Breyer |
May 16, 1994 |
Byron White |
March 1993 |
Ruth Bader Ginsburg |
June 14, 1993 |
Thurgood Marshall |
June 27, 1991 |
Clarence Thomas |
July 1, 1991 |
William Brennan, Jr. |
July 20, 1990 |
David Souter |
July 23, 1990 |
Lewis F. Powell, Jr. |
June 26, 1987 |
Robert Bork; Douglas Ginsburg (neither were confirmed); Anthony Kennedy |
July 1, 1987 October 29, 1987 November 11, 1987 |
Warren Burger |
June 17, 1986 (had informed President on May 27) |
William Rehnquist (to be Chief Justice) Antonin Scalia (to be Justice) |
June 17, 1986 |
Potter Stewart |
June 18, 1986 (had informed President on May 18) |
Sandra Day O’Connor |
July 7, 1981 |
William O. Douglas |
November 12, 1975 |
John Paul Stevens |
November 29, 1975 |
