Stephen L. Carter: Alito’s retirement plans are his to make

There’s an episode of “The West Wing” where the White House tries to get the ailing chief justice of the United States, a liberal firebrand, to step down so that President Josiah Bartlet can appoint a younger replacement. Otherwise, as one staffer puts it, the chief might “be replaced by a paleo Republican.” The episode comes to mind in light of the panicky voices on the right begging Justice Samuel Alito to step down so that President Donald Trump might have the opportunity to make one more Supreme Court appointment before January, when the Senate turns deep blue. Nothing at all new: Similar cries for early retirement have been heard in the past, when Democrats have seen red waves rising toward the political shores. But for me as a constitutional romantic — my fellow scholars might call me a dreamer, or worse — the alarums and excursions incident upon such occasions are troubling.

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