I'm Elizabeth Slattery and welcome to SCOTUS 101, where we break down what's happening at the Supreme Court, what the justices are up to, and other things related to our favorite branch of government.

This is a special summer session edition of SCOTUS 101, and today I'm joined by my colleague John Michael Seibler.

And I've been told to say thanks, it's very great to be here. In this episode, we're going to talk with a former law clerk to Judge Kavanaugh, but first, a few SCOTUS headlines. Thanks, John Michael, for reading my show notes so closely. Well, it's true. It is great to be here. So everybody's favorite octogenarian Ruth Bader Ginsburg made headlines this week because she has announced that she plans to stay on the court for at least another five years.

The notorious RBG used to point to Justice Louis Brandeis as her model.

He was the first Jewish justice and he served until age 82.

Well, now, RBG is 85 and she says that she's not ready to go anywhere,

and she plans to serve at least as long as her now retired colleague, Justice John Paul Stevens.

Great trivia question. Who is the oldest justice? We may soon find out.

So Justice Stevens served until he was 90, making him almost the oldest justice ever. But Oliver

Wendell Holmes Jr. was just two months shy of his 91st birthday when he retired in 1932. So the

notorious RBG has hired law clerks through 2020, and she has said that she'll stay on the court

as long as she can do the job,

full steam. And here is wishing her well. And moving on, Justice Anthony Kennedy's official

last day was this week. It was July 31st. He was wishing him an enjoyable retirement.

It'll be interesting to see if and when he does some judging on lower federal courts,

how he spends his retirement,

and perhaps he will find time to enjoy the sweet mysteries of life on a beach somewhere.

So speaking of Justice Kennedy, he spoke at the Ninth Circuit's judicial conference a couple

weeks ago, and there was one interesting thing to note. He mentioned in his back and forth with some district court judges who were interviewing him that at one point, the Supreme Court was considering what senior status justices could do.

And now he is, of course, a senior status justice.

So someone suggested that senior justices could fill in at the Supreme Court when other justices were recused from a case.

And Kennedy was vehemently opposed to this idea. And I have to say, I'm glad that his view

...