Supreme Court Justice David Souter Expected to Retire

This is an article by FoxNews that suggests Supreme Court Justice David Souter may retire at the end of this term, due to the fact that he has not hired any law clerks for the next term. With an almost filibuster proof majority in the Senate, President Obama can put someone as far to the left as he wants, without having to worry about his appointee being rejected.


WASHINGTON--National Public Radio, among other media outlets, are reporting that the justice plans to retire by the end of the court's current term.

Eight justices are known to have hired the four law clerks who will work with them in the next term — making people speculate that Souter, 69, is not be hiring clerks because he isn't planning to be in Washington in the fall.

A retirement would give President Barack Obama his first chance to nominate a justice and the next few months would bring Senate confirmation hearings.
This is concededly an unusual way to signal that a retirement announcement is imminent, but one former senior government lawyer who declined to be named because he practices in front of the Supreme Court said, "It's getting late, even for Souter."

For the last three years, at least, the identities of Souter's clerks for the upcoming term have been known by now. Gossipy legal blogs actively seek out the names of the clerks — recent graduates of the nation's top law schools who go on to lucrative careers and, sometimes, the Supreme Court.

Clerkships are highly sought and applicants have been known to interview with multiple justices in the hopes of landing a job at the high court.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Stephen Breyer and John Paul Stevens were clerks when they were younger.