It was already shaping up to be one of the busiest news days of the Supreme Court’s term. The justices handed down major rulings on birthright citizenship, campaign finance, and transgender participation in school sports, sending legal reporters scrambling to digest a flurry of consequential opinions. Then NPR found itself at the center of a […]

It was already shaping up to be one of the busiest news days of the Supreme Court’s term. The justices handed down major rulings on birthright citizenship, campaign finance, and transgender participation in school sports, sending legal reporters scrambling to digest a flurry of consequential opinions.

Then NPR found itself at the center of a story that had nothing to do with the Court’s decisions and everything to do with a report that should never have been published.

Veteran Supreme Court correspondent Nina Totenberg mistakenly reported that Justice Samuel Alito was retiring, only for the story to be retracted after it became clear no such announcement had been made.

The article, published shortly before 11 a.m. Eastern, appeared to have been extensively prepared in advance. It reflected on Alito’s judicial legacy, describing him as a consequential conservative justice whose name would be forever associated with the Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

“In the history of the Supreme Court, the names of just a few justices are linked with a single very famous, or infamous decision,” the article stated, adding that Alito’s legacy would be defined by the opinion reversing a half-century of abortion-rights precedent.

There was only one problem.

The retirement announcement referenced throughout the story had never happened.

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As of Wednesday, Alito remained an active member of the Supreme Court, and neither the justice nor the Court’s public information office had announced any plans for him to step down.

NPR quickly removed the story, replacing it with a brief editor’s note reading, “This story has been taken down. It was published in error.”

Later, the network issued a more detailed correction.

“Earlier today, we erroneously published a story saying that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring. Neither Alito nor the court’s public information office has announced his retirement, and we have retracted the story.”

Totenberg addressed the mistake during All Things Considered, delivering a prepared apology directed at Alito.

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

According to her explanation, the mistake stemmed from a misunderstanding while reporters were leaving the courtroom following the release of opinions.

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Totenberg said she asked someone why reporters were lingering inside the courtroom and believed she heard “retirement announcement.” She later realized the response had actually been “retirement announcements,” referring generally to announcements rather than a specific justice leaving the bench.

“I didn’t hear the ‘s’ on announcements, and assumed something no reporter should ever do,” she said.

Calling the incident “the worst professional mistake of my more than 50 years in journalism,” Totenberg accepted full responsibility.

Her explanation answered how the misunderstanding began but left another question unresolved: how such a consequential story reached publication without independent confirmation.

That issue quickly became a focal point for media observers.

CNN media analyst Brian Stelter noted that NPR’s internal editorial safeguards apparently failed during one of the year’s highest-profile news events.

NPR Editor-in-Chief Thomas Evans acknowledged that the organization has procedures intended to prevent precisely this type of error.

“We do have systems in place,” Evans said, adding that the newsroom would examine what went wrong and learn from the episode.

He did not publicly explain why those safeguards failed in this instance.

Stelter also observed that Totenberg’s long history covering the Supreme Court prompted speculation among some journalists that she may have possessed advance information suggesting Alito had been considering retirement. Totenberg did not address that possibility during her public remarks.

Additional details later emerged from NPR Public Editor Kelly McBride.

According to McBride, the misunderstanding originated from a comment by Chief Justice John Roberts that Totenberg misheard amid the activity inside the courtroom. McBride also reported that Totenberg did not contact Alito’s chambers for confirmation before relaying the information to NPR editors.

Executive Editor Krishnadev Calamur reportedly acknowledged the seriousness of the mistake while explaining why editors relied on Totenberg’s account.

“She’s the preeminent Supreme Court reporter in the courtroom,” Calamur reportedly told McBride. “It’s when Nina says, ‘Here’s what happened,’ and we do it. That’s the trust you build up.”