Posted on 07/01/2005 3:55:46 PM PDT by wagglebee
WASHINGTON -- The future of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, ailing with cancer and the focus of retirement speculation, is still up in the air.
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, 75, announced Friday that she was retiring from the Supreme Court, surprising many who had expected that the 80-year-old chief justice would be the one stepping down. There was no word from the court on Rehnquist's plans. Some court watchers suggested he might stay for another term, health permitting, based on an informal understanding among justices to avoid two retirements in the same term if possible.
One theory is that Rehnquist made clear to O'Connor that he was not planning an imminent retirement, perhaps so that he could reassess his condition over the court's three-month summer recess.
David Garrow, a Supreme Court historian and law professor at Emory University, said he believes that Rehnquist intends to stay another full term. Otherwise, he would have made an announcement by now to avoid a vacancy after the new fall term begins.
"If there is one person whom Justice O'Connor told ahead of time, in addition to her husband, I think it would be the chief justice," Garrow said. "Barring a medical emergency, I think it's certain the chief justice is planning to return in October and believes he'll be fully capable of returning."
Rehnquist announced last October he had thyroid cancer, but after treatment he has been working at the court full-time. The chief justice walks under his own power with a cane, but he has difficulty talking and breathing at times.
Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said after visiting Rehnquist recently he didn't believe the chief justice was ready to retire. Specter, who has Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph system, said he could relate to Rehnquist's health problems.
"Speaking as someone who likes to get up in the morning with something important to do, I wouldn't say that it's keeping the chief alive but I think he likes his job," said Specter, R-Pa. "And if we haven't heard from him by now, the chances are you won't hear from him for some time."
Like Rehnquist would even consider telling this RINO what his plans were.
Alren, believe me, there are lots of us who wish you had nothing important to do but to make sure you had a good bowel movement before noon
I would say that meeting his Maker is in the fairly near future, bless his heart.
Why is Arlen Specter totally bald? Is he ill?
Specter is on chemotherapy
Not content to just report news, we are given speculation about potential future news.
Who knew you had a direct line to the Lord.
An 80-year-old with cancer? It's a reasonable surmise that he's not going to be around in 2010. Not that I wouldn't like to be wrong ... miracles happen.
I see, thank you. I saw him on TV and was pretty shocked. Hope he continues on to a full recovery.
I expect at the least, three Bush SCOTUS appointments by the end of his term.
He looks okay "bald," but his health is a reminder of the temporal nature of all of us. I too pray for him to have a full recovery and healthy life.
hopefully he retires next year
Since Sen Hillary Clinton is not only the smartest woman on earth, but the smartest lawyer ever to have passed the bar, maybe she should be on the short list... Now which list was I thinking....?
I don't know but she is on my sh%$t list in the permanent column. lol
>>Will any liberals (besides O'Connor, of course) retire though?<<
Probably not, but one or two might die.
John Paul Stevens is ancient, and I was VERY surprised he didn't retire when Klintoon was in office, but hopefully Bush will get to replace him. Ginsburg has had some health problems too IIRC.
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