Bench Memos

Law & the Courts

A Clarification on Non-Retirements

An article in yesterday’s Washington Post initially placed a quote of mine in a context that gave a mistaken impression about the “implicit bet” that I think that Justice Alito and Justice Thomas have been making. I believe that their decisions not to retire at the end of the Court’s past two terms reflect an assessment that they could later still be replaced by someone ideologically similar. I don’t believe that their failure to announce a retirement during this post-election lame-duck period reflects such an assessment. I am grateful that the quote has been tweaked to make that clear.

Ed Whelan holds the Antonin Scalia Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and is a regular contributor to National Review’s Bench Memos blog.
Exit mobile version