Likeliest Supreme Court justice to retire next: Ginsburg

Court observers already assumed Ginsburg would be the next justice to retire, and took Leahy’s “hint” as a reference to her departure.

Tom Goldstein, a Supreme Court attorney and the publisher of the widely respected SCOTUSBlog, has interpreted her statements to mean Ginsburg likely plans to step aside in the third year of Obama’s second term — 2015.

“She’s completely at the top if her game,” he said in an interview. “She’s really underestimated.”

None of the other justices are expected to leave during Obama’s presidency, barring major health problems or death.

Justice Stephen Breyer, at 74, is younger than Ginsburg and seems to be “having the time of his life,” said Lucas Powe, a Supreme Court historian at the University of Texas law school.