Quote:
Originally Posted by MysticCat
I think you're right. I don't see Roberts, Thomas or Alito -- all age 60 or younger -- going anywhere anytime soon. Meanwhile, Stevens is 88 and Ginsburg, whose health has not been good, is 75. Scalia and Kennedy are both 72, but provided his health holds out (and I know of nothing at this point to suggest it won't), I don't see Scalia retiring anytime soon, and probably not Kennedy either. Breyer (70) I don't know.
I think it's likely to be at least 2 or 3 more presidential terms before there is any real chance of the balance of the court shifting.
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I read somewhere that Ginsburg will not retire during a Republican administration. She's still an extremely sharp questioner from the bench, so I could see her staying through the next administration (although I still think Scalia will stick around longer than her).
Part of me thinks Stevens will stick around to break Douglas' record on the bench; he too is still quite active during oral arguments, and his opinions are still sharp (no matter what you think of their outcomes), so hopefully he'll have a better end of the bench than Douglas or some of the other long-timers.