Who's Leaving the Supreme Court?

There was some big news yesterday about our third branch of government:

[Supreme Court] Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has hinted at a possible vacancy "soon" at the US Supreme Court, without indicating who would be leaving.

Speaking Friday at New England Law Boston's annual "Law Day," Ginsburg told students that the nine justices only take pictures together when a new member joins the high court.

"We haven't had any photos for some time, but surely we will soon," she said.

The justices most likely to retire are Ginsburg, who turns 76 today, John Paul Stevens (90), and David Souter (69). All three are reliably progressive justices, so Obama's appointment of a left-leaning judge to replace any of them wouldn't change the demographics of the court.

On the conservative side, everyone is pretty young except the despicable Antonin Scalia, who is 73. If Obama wins reelection in 2012, Scalia might leave the court and give Obama the opportunity to replace him with someone more progressive.

This is another reason why Obama's victory was important.