Anthony Kennedy Must Not Be Chief Justice

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The end of a Supreme Court term means speculation about retirements and new appointments. One rumor in particular must be quashed.

No justice announced retirement this year. The court's 2001-02 term, which closed on June 27, was the eighth with the same lineup, the longest stretch without a vacancy in more than 175 years. Only four American Presidents have not made even a single appointment, and two of them did not serve a full term. The odds are a vacancy will happen soon.

Most court watchers say the next retirement will likely come from among Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day O'Connor. President Richard Nixon appointed the …