# With Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor's health problems should she retire? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 5, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886 "2024-04-05T16:43:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/1 "2024-04-05T16:43:32Z")
The topic came up in this thread: > [@FBI Search and Seizure at Trump's Mar-A-Lago Residence (August 8, 2022)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022/969329/7952): > > I think the fix is in. Cannon will allow the trial to start before the election, and then rule that the PRA allows him to steal all the documents that he wants and dismiss the charges. They’ll make it an October surprise for the most electoral impact, and if it works Cannon gets on the Supreme Court. > [@FBI Search and Seizure at Trump's Mar-A-Lago Residence (August 8, 2022)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022/969329/7954): > > Whose spot would she take? > [@FBI Search and Seizure at Trump's Mar-A-Lago Residence (August 8, 2022)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022/969329/7955): > > If I had to bet it would be Sotomayer since her health is becoming questionable. And this is a big deal right now. Here is an article about it, there are numerous articles though: > **[Top Democrats won't join calls for Justice Sotomayor to retire, but they...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/top-democrats-wont-join-calls-justice-sotomayor-retire-still-fear-ruth-rcna145912)** > > As more liberals urge Sonia Sotomayor to step down this year to ensure that Biden can pick her successor, some Senate Democrats are voicing fears of a 7-2 conservative majority. I get that asking her to retire now is being very pessimistic and is assuming Trump will win. Nobody wants that and efforts should be directed toward preventing that situation. But is it an unreasonable precaution? ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/2 "2024-04-05T16:46:04Z")
Obviously, if I knew for sure that Biden would win I might push her to retire. But right now? No. And maybe not even if Biden wins. We don’t need to get bogged down again. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/3 "2024-04-05T16:50:53Z")
If she retires now the republicans in the senate will just sit on it again until they lose control of the senate. Which may not be until 2026. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/4 "2024-04-05T16:57:19Z")
Ms Sotomayor is 69 years old, which is barely out of high school by current American political standards. Unless she has health problems other than diabetes, which presumably is well managed, I’m sure she’ll be fine. > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > If she retires now the republicans in the senate will just sit on it again until they lose control of the senate. Which may not be until 2026. Democrats currently have a majority in the Senate. Republicans can’t use the filibuster against a SC nominee, because Republicans elininaed the filibuster for SC nominees. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/5 "2024-04-05T17:00:23Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > If she retires now the republicans in the senate will just sit on it again until they lose control of the senate. That’s a good point. When she retires that just temporarily raises the conservative majority from 6-3 to 6-2 for as long as they can obstruct it. Now, I don’t think they can obstruct it indefinitely, I think trying to block an appointment literally for _years_ might backfire. On the other hand, if they wanted to obstruct it until after the election this year, we already have precedence for such a thing. But… > [@zimaane](#): > > Democrats currently have a majority in the Senate. True, so I’m not sure if they _could_ obstruct unless they convinced some Ds to join their “concerns”. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/6 "2024-04-05T17:20:05Z")
If Biden loses, maybe she should retire and the Dems should spend a good, solid, 5 minutes debating over her replacement before confirming her or him or them. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/7 "2024-04-05T17:22:10Z")
She should retire in case Biden doesn’t win, not the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/8 "2024-04-05T17:24:08Z")
There’s probably less than a 50% chance of Trump winning in November AND Sotomayor dying during his term AND Republicans having a Senate majority when she dies. But any non-zero chance of a Supreme Court with four Trump nominees on it is enough to terrify me. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/9 "2024-04-05T17:28:42Z")
I suppose you could argue that is Trump wins, Roberts, Alito, and Thomas could all retire and get replaced by 17 year old groypers, SCOTUS will be controlled by the far right for 40 years, and it doesn’t matter if it’s 6-3 or 7-2, so might as well stick around. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/10 "2024-04-05T17:40:40Z")
I’m not too sure about that. IMHO the SCOTUS has 4 wings. The liberals, Roberts on his own, Kavanaugh plus Coney-Barrett, and Thomas plus Alito, with Gorsuch going back and forth from the various wings depending on the particulars of the case. I doubt Roberts wants Trump naming his replacement. While Alito and Thomas would likely be happy to have Trump select their replacement, I highly doubt either one of them have any interest in that happening any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/11 "2024-04-05T17:51:15Z")
The article doesn’t say anything specific about her health other than diabetes. I was unaware of any recent exacerbations/absences/etc. Have there been such? ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/12 "2024-04-05T19:22:44Z")
Not that I can find. It seems this is because she is a 69 year old Latina who is diabetic. The reasoning strikes me as dumb and very panicked, not at all rational. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/13 "2024-04-05T19:23:16Z")
Agreed, where is this nonsense about her health coming from? There’s no news I can find, and so what – she has diabetes and is 69. Her death or infirmity is nothing like imminent. Post some dire cite about her or the whole purpose of this thread is stoopid. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/14 "2024-04-05T19:28:01Z")
If Trump wins (God forbid!), is there anything legally that would prevent a Justice from retiring the next day, with a Dem Senate getting a vote on it within a week or two? Not an obstacle based on tradition (e.g., not retiring until the end of a SCOTUS term, if that’s the proper word), a legal one…? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/15 "2024-04-05T20:43:52Z")
My mom is a 94 year old Latino diabetic as well, she is hanging right in there. I’m sure a Justice of the Supreme Court has better access to top medical care than my mom. But is she also a Christian Saint like my mom? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/16 "2024-04-05T20:53:36Z")
Funny how Sotomayor and Ginsberg get this “she needs to retire while a Democrat is president” treatment from pundits and prognosticators, but I don’t seem to recall anyone pushing retirement on Breyer, Souter, or Stevens. Somehow it’s only female justices who are harming the country by refusing to step down. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/17 "2024-04-05T21:02:23Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I don’t seem to recall anyone pushing retirement on Breyer, Souter, or Stevens. Actually, there was a whole thread a couple years back (I’m too lazy to look it up) urging Breyer to retire. And it worked! Roberts seems like he might be a semi-decent human being. I wonder if he’d retire post-election (in the horrific event of a Trump win) to give Biden a chance to appoint a new Chief Justice. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/18 "2024-04-05T21:03:22Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Actually, there was a whole thread a couple years back (I’m too lazy to look it up) urging Breyer to retire. And it worked! The other two appear to have retired on their own\*, but as for Breyer, I found this: [progressive activists and Democratic members of Congress called on Breyer to retire so that President Biden could nominate a younger liberal justice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Breyer?useskin=vector#Retirement) [footnote, because asterisks aren’t working for me right now] from wiki: Long before the election of President Obama, Souter had expressed a desire to leave [Washington, D.C](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.)., and return to New Hampshire On April 9, 2010, Stevens announced his intention to retire from the Supreme Court;[[34]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Stevens?useskin=vector#cite_note-34) he subsequently retired on June 29 of that year.[[35]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Stevens?useskin=vector#cite_note-35) Stevens said that his decision to retire from the Court was initially triggered when he stumbled on several sentences when delivering his oral dissent in the 2010 landmark case _[Citizens United v. FEC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC)_.[[11]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Stevens?useskin=vector#cite_note-NYTObit-11) Stevens said “I took that as a warning sign that maybe I’ve been around longer than I should.”[[36]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Stevens?useskin=vector#cite_note-36) ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/19 "2024-04-05T21:07:52Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > as for Breyer > [@Justice Stephen Breyer Should Retire Right Now (Is Now Retiring)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justice-stephen-breyer-should-retire-right-now-is-now-retiring/937952): > > Or so says Paul Campos in [an opinion piece for the NY Times today](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/opinion/stephen-breyer-supreme-court.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage) (possibly paywalled). And I have to say, he makes a pretty compelling argument, at least from a political perspective. Consider that because of the extremely thin nature of their Democratic Senate control, the shift of a single seat from the Democrats to the Republicans or even one vacancy in the 50 seats now controlled by the Democratic caucus would probably result in the swift reinstallation of Mitch McConnell as the majority… ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886/20 "2024-04-05T21:14:10Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@zimaane](#): > > > > Democrats currently have a majority in the Senate. > > True, so I’m not sure if they _could_ obstruct unless they convinced some Ds to join their “concerns”. As a procedural matter, Republicans cannot prevent Democrats from filling a Supreme Court vacancy that happens this year. Given the current makeup of the Senate, the Democrats could even lose one Democrat (or Democrat-aligned Independent) and still pass the nominee due to VP Harris’ tie breaker. However, there are also three Senate Democrats with nothing to lose – Manchin and Sinema are retiring, Menendez is functionally dead in the water. The former two could potentially cause problems for a Biden nominee based on their “centrist” self-image, and Menendez might do so just to give the finger to the Biden Administration for prosecuting him. It’s a tight enough margin that trying to replace Sotomayor could be risky. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/with-supreme-court-justice-sotomayors-health-problems-should-she-retire/999886.md?page=2)