NPR retracts and removes news about Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s retirement after mistake

National Public Radio (NPR), a public broadcaster in the United States, took an unusual action this Tuesday by completely withdrawing a high-profile report. The article conveyed the news, which turned out to be false, that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring.

The text was signed by Nina Totenberg, one of the most respected Supreme Court correspondents in American journalism.

With approximately 1,200 words, the report was removed from the air and replaced by an editorial note. In it, NPR clarified: “We erroneously published a story claiming that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring. He did not announce his retirement and we retracted the story.”

The news article’s opening paragraph mentioned a “Court announcement” about Alito’s retirement, although no official statement had been issued at the time of publication.

Patricia McCabe, a spokeswoman for the Supreme Court, confirmed to NBC News that NPR’s “reporting on Justice Alito is inaccurate” and that the information on any statement from the Court was equally inaccurate.

Late Tuesday afternoon, NPR editor-in-chief Thomas Evans explained the oversight as a “misunderstanding.”

Evans said in a statement that “due to a misunderstanding, NPR’s Supreme Court and Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg incorrectly reported that Justice Samuel Alito had retired.” He added that neither Justice Alito nor the Supreme Court press office had made such an announcement. Once the error was identified, the story was retracted, removed from the NPR website, and a correction was broadcast live. The organization regretted the error and any confusion caused, highlighting its commitment to journalistic accuracy in its publications. Mrs. Totenberg would appear on the program *All Things Considered* to discuss what happened and had apologized to Minister Alito.

Totenberg’s original report provided a detailed profile of Alito’s career on the Court. The text described his crucial role, often at the forefront of the conservative agenda on issues such as abortion, religious rights, opposition to LGBTQ+ rights and the expansion of voting rights, in addition to his support for the death penalty and opposition to unions.

The article highlighted that Alito was responsible for writing the majority opinion in the Court’s historic 2022 decision, which overturned the precedent of *Roe v. Wade. Wade*.

Totenberg, who has been with NPR since 1975, wrote that “in the history of the Supreme Court, the names of only a few justices are associated with a single very famous — or infamous — decision.” She cited examples such as Chief Justice John Marshall for his 1803 decision that established the power of courts to nullify unconstitutional laws; Chief Justice Roger Taney for his decision in the *Dred Scott* case; and Chief Justice Earl Warren for the 1954 decision that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

The journalist concluded that, today, Alito’s name is “inextricably linked to the Court’s vote that overturned half a century of decisions recognizing women’s right to abortion.” However, there were signs that the report was still being finalized. A Yale University law professor was quoted in the penultimate paragraph as saying that Alito “overturned *Roe v. Wade*. That’s how he will forever be remembered.”

*The Guardian* reached out to NPR’s media relations team for further comment on the retraction of the story.