Why Is Souter Retiring?: At Blog of Legal Times, Tony Mauro reports that Justice Souter is retiring because of his age, and not for political reasons as many had thought. According to Jeannette Lee, at the Atlantic's political blog, shortly after Justice Souter announced his retirement he commented that he "probably" would have retired had Republican candidate John McCain had been elected last November. He commented that he wished to retire early because, "I'm going to be seventy soon. I've watched other
justices wait until their eighties to retire, and by that time they
have nothing left to retire to. I didn't want that to be me." Not everyone believes that age is the only reason. Mauro quotes Artemus Ward, the author of a 2003 book on why justices retire, as saying Justice Souter is "a prime example" of justices who time their retirements for strategic reasons, both political and institutional.
Some Academic Articles: Thanks to Eugene Volokh for providing the link to HeinOnline's most cited legal journals and articles. The list contains the number of times the journal or legal article is cited on HeinOnline by other legal journals or Supreme Court cases. Interestingly, Warren and Brandeis' The Right to Privacy tops the list.
Stock Issues for Supreme Court Nominees: Howard Bashman provides a link to Sharon Theimer's AP article, which reports "Stocks could cause conflicts for court prospects." Theimer reports that some potential nominees, like Judges Diane Wood and Kim Wardlaw, hold stocks that could cause conflict-of-interest problems in cases that might come before the court. Judge Wood has holdings in Whole Foods Market Inc., which won permission from a federal appeals court in Washington in 2007 to buy rival organic grocer Wild Oats Markets despite the Federal Trade Commission's argument that the deal would stifle competition. Judge Wardlaw has holdings in Microsoft, which was targeted by a antitrust lawsuit during the Clinton Administration. This conflict-of-interest problem is nothing new, Theimer reports that "last year, three justices' stock holdings and the job of another justice's son prevented the court from getting involved in a lawsuit that accused dozens of businesses of violating international law by assisting South Africa's former apartheid government."
Some Academic Articles: Thanks to Eugene Volokh for providing the link to HeinOnline's most cited legal journals and articles. The list contains the number of times the journal or legal article is cited on HeinOnline by other legal journals or Supreme Court cases. Interestingly, Warren and Brandeis' The Right to Privacy tops the list.
Stock Issues for Supreme Court Nominees: Howard Bashman provides a link to Sharon Theimer's AP article, which reports "Stocks could cause conflicts for court prospects." Theimer reports that some potential nominees, like Judges Diane Wood and Kim Wardlaw, hold stocks that could cause conflict-of-interest problems in cases that might come before the court. Judge Wood has holdings in Whole Foods Market Inc., which won permission from a federal appeals court in Washington in 2007 to buy rival organic grocer Wild Oats Markets despite the Federal Trade Commission's argument that the deal would stifle competition. Judge Wardlaw has holdings in Microsoft, which was targeted by a antitrust lawsuit during the Clinton Administration. This conflict-of-interest problem is nothing new, Theimer reports that "last year, three justices' stock holdings and the job of another justice's son prevented the court from getting involved in a lawsuit that accused dozens of businesses of violating international law by assisting South Africa's former apartheid government."
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