Just Under the Radar

I doubt you've heard, so let me be the first to tell you: Sandra Day O'Connor has announced her retirement from the Supreme Court:

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court and a key swing vote on issues such as abortion and the death penalty, said Friday she is retiring.

O'Connor, 75, said she will leave before the start of the court's next term in October, or when the Senate confirms her successor. There was no immediate word from the White House on who might be nominated to replace O'Connor.

It's been 11 years since the last opening on the court, one of the longest uninterrupted stretches in history. O'Connor's decision gives Bush his first opportunity to appoint a justice.

I've always had mixed feelings about SDP. I liked where her vote put the court on some issues, disliked it in others, and cannot remember a single opinion she wrote that I found particularly persuasive. I certainly will not miss the game of "What will SDO do?" that court watchers played everytime a big issue came before the Court.

But this could get real ugly, real fast.

It was one thing to prepare for a Rehnquist replacement, who would not create much shift in important cases. I now fully expect the nomination system as we know it to utterly self-destruct. I guess it will be interesting to see what rises from the remnants.

UPDATE: I do find it a little bit strange that this is the headline story on the BBC's website. Important? Yes. International headline news? I would not have thought so.