Why I Think Rehnquist Will Not Retire

In a somewhat vulgar display, public discusions over who might step onto the Supreme Court have begun. Chief Justice Renquist, with cancer, is thought likely to announce his retirement at the end of this session, in a few weeks.

Rehnquist voted, in what many consider to be a jurisprudentially dubious decision, to effect Bush's win in 2000. Subsequently, some think him a Republican partisan.

However, I think Rehnquist, as Chief Justice, thinks historically about the importance of checks and balances. He sees the archly powerful executive under Bush, and how the Senate has been cowed into being his right hand through the very personally weak Majority Leader Bill Frist -- who owes his political life to Bush. And, he sees that when the court hands down decisions, like the one last summer, that the detainees at Guantanamo Bay have rights of appeal in Federal Courts, the Executive Branch just plain ignores them, as it has been doing for the Gitmo decision all this year, playing it off in courts as if the Supreme Court decision did not exist.

Even if he is a partisan, he likely guards the separation of powers, and its checks and balances very closely. Seeing the Bushies 2 for 3 probably makes him worry about their aggressive Congressional posturing to go for 3 for 3.

So, I think Rehnquist will do a gut check, and ask himself -- can I keep doing this for 3 more years?