Thread by @DavidLat

1/ THREAD. Justice Breyer’s book — which his publisher touts as written by “a sitting justice” — comes out in September, as @adamliptak reported earlier today. I don’t think Justice Breyer is retiring before then.

https://twitter.com/nikobowie/status/1394403022311145474

2/ Additional evidence suggesting Justice Breyer might not want to retire this year or this Term appears in this piece by @adamliptak for the @nytimes.

nyti.ms/3fpmlDY #scotus

3/ As Professor Ross Stolzenberg told @adamliptak, leaving #SCOTUS is correlated with a shorter life span — “the effect of retirement was about the same as smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.”

4/ Now, that’s correlation, not causation — but to me it suggests that justices generally derive a lot of satisfaction and meaning from their work, often hanging on as long as they can do the job. #scotus #appellatetwitter

5/ And as I’ve mentioned before, Justice Breyer hired two clerks in short order a few weeks ago, after having hired the first two long ago.

(Here’s some background on #SCOTUS clerk hiring and retirement.)

bit.ly/3t4GXqt

6/ My read: Justice Breyer hired just two law clerks because he was mulling over retirement, then he hired the last two clerks once he decided to stay for one more Term.

bit.ly/3d5Owb0 #SCOTUS