Update by Rob:
She did retire.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court and a swing vote on abortion as well as other contentious issues, announced her retirement Friday. A bruising Senate confirmation struggle loomed as President Bush selects a successor.
"It has been a great privilege indeed to have served as a member of the court for 24 years," the 75-year-old justice wrote Bush in a one-paragraph resignation letter. "I will leave it with enormous respect for the integrity of the court and its role under our constitutional structure."
Presidential aides said Bush would make a late-morning statement. It was not clear when he would divulge his choice to take the seat that O'Connor has held since President Reagan appointed her in 1981.
O'Connor's announcement marked the first retirement in 11 years on an aging court. It came as a modest surprise, particularly since Chief Justice William Rehnquist has been the subject of retirement rumors for months. Rehnquist, 80 and ailing with thyroid cancer, has offered no hint as to his future plans.
Good riddance.
Expect the battle over her replacement to begin immediately.
Wizbang has more.