NPR reports – and quickly retracts – GOP Supreme Court justice's retirement

A veteran Supreme Court correspondent apparently jumped the gun with a report that Justice Samuel Alito is retiring.

NPR's Nina Totenberg reported Tuesday, just after the current term's last opinions were handed down, that the 76-year-old George W. Bush appointee was stepping down, but the network quickly retracted the breaking news article.

Alito had long been rumored to be considering retirement, and it's not clear whether the report was a prewritten post published by mistake or an accurate account that was sent out prematurely.

"So according to the folks on the scene in SCOTUSBlog's chat, 'The [public information officer] just checking with Nina in the broadcast booth and Nina says this is a mistake and they are taking it down,'" reported journalist Joe Patrice.

"If Nina Totenberg accidentally published her pre-write before she was supposed to and blew Alito's retirement announcement, I am going to die laughing at my desk," laughed writer Jay Willis.

"Among other things, the story said he announced his retirement from the bench. But Alito ... wasn't in court today," noted Georgetown law professor Steve Vladek.