ANOTHER U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE TO RETIRE?

From this article in the Washington Post on September 3, 2009:

Justice John Paul Stevens has hired only one clerk for the Supreme Court term that begins in October 2010, and in the tea-leaf-reading world of the court, that is being taken as a sign he is considering retirement.

Active justices generally have four clerks, and Stevens, 89, has hired that many for the court's new term, which begins next month. Stevens usually hires all of his clerks at the same time, and well in advance of the term in which they will work.

So his decision to make one hire thus far for the 2010-2011 term -- retired justices are entitled to one clerk -- seems significant....

Wiki has some information on his judicial philosophy. He is mostly on the liberal side of the court and wrote SCOTUS decisions less conservative than those written when he served on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Reminder: the Presidential power of appointments to the United States Supreme Court extends that President's power well beyond the term limits in the Oval Office.