NPR Retracts Report That Justice Samuel Alito Is Retiring

UPDATED: Shortly after the final opinion of the Supreme Court‘s term was announced on Tuesday, NPR published a bombshell that sent the high court’s press room scrambling: An official announcement that Justice Samuel Alito was retiring.

Yet, minutes later, the story was pulled, with the message, “Editors Note: Earlier today we erroneously published a story saying that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring. He has not announced his retirement and we have retracted the story.”

There is typically speculation of retirements at the end of the court’s term, and Alito, who has been a justice for 20 years, has been the source of speculation as one of the longest serving members, as has Clarence Thomas, who was confirmed in 1991.

NPR’s editor in chief Thomas Evans said in a statement, “Due to a misunderstanding, NPR’s Supreme Court and Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg incorrectly reported that Justice Samuel Alito had retired. Neither Justice Alito nor the Supreme Court Public Information Office has announced his retirement. As soon as the error was realized, the story was retracted and removed from NPR’s website and an on-air correction was broadcast. We regret the error and any confusion this may have caused. This afternoon, Mrs. Totenberg will appear on All Things Considered to explain what happened. She has reached out to Justice Alito to apologize.”

Publishing of pre-written stories is uncommon, but easier to do in the demands for speed in the digital age. Even though the story was retracted, it likely will not put to rest the speculation of a vacancy on the high court, which would give Donald Trump an opportunity to put forth a fourth nominee to court. If confirmed, he would exceed the three justices that Ronald Reagan selected to the court.