Leahy: Obama Could Appoint 3-4 More to the Supreme Court

The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus has the story (via Legal Times' David Ingram):

The future of the Supreme Court is one of the reasons Leahy wants to return to the U.S. Senate for another six years, adding to his long career in Washington. He’s been elected continually by the state since he was 34 years old in 1974. If Obama is elected to another term in 2012, Leahy said he would have the opportunity to help confirm 3-4 more Supreme Court judges.

“I certainly want to be there for that,” he said with a grin, reflecting the impact that a liberal Democrat could potentially have on the direction of the Supreme Court.

It's not exactly clear who Patrick Leahy believes might leave the Supreme Court in the next six years. Presumably he's assuming that Ruth Bader Ginsburg (age 77) would leave the bench by age 83, and perhaps, too, Stephen Breyer (now 72 years of age) would exit. Beyond these two, it is hard to imagine that the second oldest member of the Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia (age 74), would leave of his own volition while Barack Obama is in office, and it is almost as difficult to imagine the next oldest Justice, Anthony Kennedy (also age 74), ever giving up his spot as the swing member of the Court. No other member of the Court would even be 70 by the end of a second Obama term. But perhaps Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, knows something we don't know...