# If President Obama is re-elected, will any of the "conservative" SC justices retire in his 2nd term? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 25, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290 "2012-06-25T20:49:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/1 "2012-06-25T20:49:09Z")
Assuming that President Obama is re-elected, how do you think the make-up of the Supreme Court will change as far as the “conservative” wing is concerned? Who, if anyone will retire? I’ve included Kennedy because he was appointed by President Reagan. I know that he’s considered a swing vote and isn’t strictly conservative. Poll coming. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/2 "2012-06-25T21:46:19Z")
Ginsburg, Kennedy and Scalia should have already been forced out by mandatory retirement, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/3 "2012-06-25T21:49:05Z")
I doubt that any of them will retire. All that Obama has been able to do so far is hold the line and so it shall remain unless there is a heart attack or stroke. I can see Ginsberg hanging it up but that’s a different story. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/4 "2012-06-25T21:52:20Z")
OK, I may have jumped the gun on this. I predict that either Kennedy or Scalia will be forced by their failing health to resign or else die in office. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/5 "2012-06-25T21:55:08Z")
I didn’t vote because its just pointless guessing. None will resign if they remain healthy. Some or all of them will retire if their health fails. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/6 "2012-06-25T22:12:57Z")
Thomas is only 64? Shit! ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/7 "2012-06-26T00:22:23Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I didn’t vote because its just pointless guessing. None will resign if they remain healthy. Some or all of them will retire if their health fails. Your lack of participation is duly noted. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/8 "2012-06-26T00:24:38Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Your lack of participation is duly noted. By who? Am I on some sort of list? Wait a second let me vote, I’ll be good. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/9 "2012-06-26T04:04:23Z")
Barring death or incapacity, no. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/10 "2012-06-26T04:19:32Z")
None. But Ginsberg will probably leave. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/11 "2012-06-26T05:06:35Z")
Scalia “is in failing health”? I didn’t know this. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/12 "2012-06-26T07:03:27Z")
> [@black\_rabbit](#): > > Thomas is only 64? Shit! I know, right? That obsequious bootlicker is going nowhere any time soon. Well, maybe if Scalia retires Thomas will go too, what with his need to kiss Scalia’s toes every second of the day…or is that Alito’s toes? I keep forgetting. Self-hating piece of crap. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/13 "2012-06-26T15:10:39Z")
Scalia will only leave when failing health forces him to. Quite frankly, I’m starting to wonder if the man isn’t experiencing the onset of some sort of dementia. He seems to be not giving a shit how he comes across in ways that make me wonder. I could see Anthony Kennedy calling it quits. He’ll turn 80 in July 2016, and if he wants to spend time with the grandkids (I assume he has some; he’s got three children according to his capsule bio) while he’s still tolerably healthy, he needs to be packing up his papers. Meanwhile, the Clinton appointees are also getting old: next year, Ginsburg will turn 80 and Breyer will turn 75. I’d be surprised if neither of them retired during Obama’s second term if he wins in November. Nixon was the last President to appoint four Justices to the Supreme Court; Obama’s got a good chance of matching that, and a slight chance of exceeding it. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/14 "2012-06-26T15:20:22Z")
I don’t think any of them would _willingly_ retire during a Democratic Presidential term. Barring death, I would be more inclined to think we will see them serving as a Futurama-like head in a jar than give up thier seat to an Obama appointed replacement. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/15 "2012-06-26T16:37:51Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I know, right? That obsequious bootlicker is going nowhere any time soon. Well, maybe if Scalia retires Thomas will go too, what with his need to kiss Scalia’s toes every second of the day…or is that Alito’s toes? I keep forgetting. Self-hating piece of crap. You have absolutely no idea what you’re tlaking about. Unlike Thurgood Marshall (who sat in his pajamas all day watching soap operas, and sent clerks to ask how William Brennan wanted him to vote), Clarence Thomas has a mind and opinions of his own. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/16 "2012-06-26T17:06:45Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Clarence Thomas has a mind and opinions of his own. I lol’d. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/17 "2012-06-26T17:07:53Z")
Resign? No way. Die? Hopefully. If Romney were to win, then I’d say Scalia would let him pick his successor. I’d like to see them all hang it up say in 2018 or so, when President Hillary Clinton could name Barack Obama as Chief Justice, and Elizabeth Warren as an associate. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/18 "2012-06-26T18:12:00Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I lol’d. As did I. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/19 "2012-06-26T18:26:29Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I lol’d. I wonder if he was able to type that with a straight face? I know I couldn’t read it with one. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290/20 "2012-06-27T03:31:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Resign? No way. Die? Hopefully. If Romney were to win, then I’d say Scalia would let him pick his successor. I’d like to see them all hang it up say in 2018 or so, when President Hillary Clinton could name Barack Obama as Chief Justice, **and Elizabeth Warren as an associate.** But who would President Warren then appoint? That’s what I’m waiting to see. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-president-obama-is-re-elected-will-any-of-the-conservative-sc-justices-retire-in-his-2nd-term/626290.md?page=2)