Legendary SCOTUS Reporter, 82, Awkwardly Explains Bombshell Error

Longtime NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg has explained how she misreported that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito would retire, prompting a quick retraction from the outlet.

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Speaking on NPR’s All Things Considered, Totenberg, 82, took full responsibility for the debacle.

She also offered an apology to Alito, 76, who has not announced his retirement, although he has long been viewed as one of the next justices likely to retire.

“There are no words to adequately apologize for today’s error in reporting your retirement. It was entirely my fault,“ she said.

She explained during Tuesday’s landmark opinion releases, she “rushed out of the courtroom” but then realized that “the usual rush of folks after a few minutes had not happened.” When she asked someone else what was happening, she says she heard them say “retirement announcements.”

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“I didn’t hear the ‘s’ on ‘announcements,’ and I assumed something no reporter should ever do, that you were retiring,” Totenberg admitted. “It was the worst professional mistake of my more than 50 years in journalism. I could go on, but I don’t know what else to say, except that I am so, so sorry.”

Her report was online for only a few minutes before it was replaced by an editor’s note.

“Editor’s Note: Earlier today we erroneously published a story saying that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring. He has not announced his retirement and we have retracted the story,” the story now reads.

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