NPR Reporter Apologizes to Justice Alito After Mistaken Retirement Report

NPR’s Nina Totenberg sent a letter this week apologizing to Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. for reporting that he had announced his retirement. washingtontimes.com reported that Totenberg, who has covered the Supreme Court for nearly five decades, issued the report on Tuesday, the final day of rulings on cases argued in the current term.

Totenberg quickly retracted the account after it appeared online and on NPR’s air. In the letter, posted on social media, she wrote: “Dear Justice Alito, there are no words to adequately apologize for today’s error in reporting your retirement. ” She described rushing from the courtroom after opinion announcements and mishearing a response about “retirement announcements” as a singular retirement.

“I didn’t hear the ’s’ on ’announcements,’ and I assumed something no reporter should ever do, that you were retiring,” Totenberg stated. ” washingtontimes.com reported that Justice Alito has hired law clerks for the Supreme Court term that begins in October and runs through next summer.