Hustice David Souter has told the White House that he will retire from the Supreme Court at the end of the court's term in June, according to media reports.
Justice Souter is the only judge within the Supreme Court that has not hired law clerks for the term beginning in October, raising speculation that he is preparing for retirement.
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. |