ORIN KERR has a lot of thoughts on what an O'Connor retirement means, but observes an important lacuna in the discussion: "Oddly, Justice O'Connor's letter does not mention the all-important question: what is to happen to Sasha Volokh?"
O'Connor's, um, variable voting pattern means that if whoever replaces her is more consistent it will make a disproportionate difference. That also means that this fight is likely to be nastier than the fight over, say, a replacement for Rehnquist. Bench Memos has a lot on the politics involved.
And Mickey Kaus is pushing Robert Nagel for the vacancy. Good suggestion, but I doubt it'll happen.
