Justice John Paul Stevens has announced his retirement at the end of this judicial term, making it at the end of June.  Justice Stevens is the oldest member of the Supreme Court of the United States, appointed to the Court by President Ford in 1975. 

In a letter to President Obama, Justice Stevens wrote:

Having concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the Court's next Term, I shall retire from regular active service as an Associate Justice, under the provisions of 28 D.S.C. § 371(b), effective the next day after the Court rises for the summer recess this year.

He is widely considered to be the spiritual leader of the liberal leaning Justices on the Court, but he is now 90 years old and said recently that he had to fish or cut bait, hinting at his impending retirement.  This announcement will offer President Obama his second opportunity in two years to nominate someone to the Supreme Court, and will almost certainly be at least as politically charged as the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor was last year. 

Polls have already shown that enthusiasm for the midterm elections is high on both sides, but even more so for conservative voters, which makes the likelihood of a difficult and partisan confirmation process in the Senate almost assured, no matter who the President picks as his nominee.

It will be an interesting summer full of lots of crazy rhetoric.