Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on March 4, 2010

Rumor busted: Justice John Roberts of the SCOTUS is NOT retiring

Crikey, this was almost as terrifying as the “Will Smith Is Dead” Internet rumor back in November… glad it was just a Georgetown University Law Center criminal law class demonstration to show how fast information from unnamed, undocumented sources (translation: potential lies) can speed through cyberspace.

At least, that’s my take on the inception of this wacky rumor about conservative Supreme Court Judge John Roberts stepping down that was sure to momentarily stop the hearts of many a conservative from Poughkeepsie to Portland.

Let this be a lesson to you, students. Just because it’s on the Internet does not make it true… especially if it is on Daily Kos or backed by liberal billionaire George Soros.

From Daily Beast, Behind the John Roberts Resignation Rumor:

The internet was abuzz on Thursday morning with rumors that Chief Justice John Roberts would resign for personal reasons—a report that was later proven to be false. Where did it originate? Above the Law says it started in Professor Peter Tague’s criminal law class at Georgetown University Law Center. Apparently, Tague taught a lesson today on what one student calls “the validity of informants not explaining their sources.” He started the 9 a.m. class by telling his students that, they couldn’t tell anyone, but he had heard from unnamed sources that Roberts would be stepping down. At 9:30, he told them he was joking, but by that point the rumor had already taken off online, notably on RadarOnline.com, which published its first report at 9:10 a.m. EST.

Nice Deb echoed my initial reaction when this rumor about Judge Roberts first broke: Please God, Let This Not Be True…:

Drudge contacted a court source, who said, “This is not happening … It’s news to me.”

Let’s hope so…Often these rumors turn out to be completely false…but sometimes they turn out to be true….and God help us if it is.

Let’s pray the Radar’s sourcing is just bad. For the Dems to control all three branches of the government at this time would be a catastrophe for the country.

From Hot Air (a retraction of the rumor is now posted) — this commentary was uploaded earlier this morning:

If true, this would be nothing short of an apocalypse for conservatives. George Bush appointed Roberts at the age of 50, which gave the Right some comfort in the probability that Roberts would remain on the job for at least a couple of decades. An early retirement would mean a lost opportunity to maintain conservative consistency from the Supreme Court.

Until now, we had considered Obama’s potential SCOTUS appointments more or less as a push. With Stevens approaching 90 and Ginsburg reportedly in poor health, Obama seemed to only have the opportunity to replace liberal justices with equally liberal appointments. If Roberts steps down, it immediately changes the balance of the court. It would take a conservative President years just to reset the balance to today’s status quo.

The question is whether Radar’s sourcing will hold up. Conservatives will be praying that it won’t. For Roberts to step down now, one would have to assume a very serious illness or family matter arose that absolutely would keep him from fulfilling his duties. We’ll see shortly.

Categories: Conservatism, Government, Law & Constitution, Social and Political Climate
Tags: Chief Justice John Roberts, Chief Justice Roberts, conservative, George Soros, Georgetown, Georgetown University Law Center, Internet, John Roberts, John Roberts Chief Justice, John Roberts resigning, John Roberts resigns, John Roberts rumor, John Roberts stepping down, Peter Tague, resignation rumor, Roberts resignation, rumor, rumor Justice John Roberts, SCOTUS, SCOTUS John Roberts, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Judge John Roberts, Supreme Court Justice John Roberts