Newsmax⁠75%

Justices Thomas, Alito Have No Plans to Step Down ⁠0%

By Michael Katz⁠0%

4/18/2026, 1:49:23 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 19 faulty reasoning types, including Anecdotal, Availability Heuristic, and Appeal to Authority, with Unattributed Quote as the most egregious example at 25.2% saturation with 81 hits. Analysis detected 657 faulty-reasoning hits from 321 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 0% and a BS Rank of ⁠0% (0 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 100.00% of the article peer group.

Justices Clarence Thomas, 77, and Samuel Alito, 76, the oldest members of the Supreme Court and two of its most conservative, are not planning to step down once the court's current term ends in late June or early July. 
CBS News reported Friday that sources close to Thomas said he does not plan to step down. 
Fox News Digital also reported Friday that a source close to Alito said that he "is not stepping down this term and is in the process of hiring the rest of his clerks for the next term." 
Two other sources told Fox News that Alito is not retiring this term. 
Although justices tend to hire their clerks two to three years in advance, that is not necessarily indicative of a justice's retirement plans. 
The news came as speculation swirled that Alito might soon step down, although he has not publicly signaled his intentions. 
In March, he was hospitalized after falling ill during a Federalist Society dinner in Philadelphia held in his honor. 
He had been scheduled to deliver the keynote address but did not speak. 
A Supreme Court spokesperson said that "out of an abundance of caution," Alito agreed with his security detail's recommendation to seek medical evaluation before driving home to Virginia. 
He was treated for dehydration and given fluids at a hospital before returning home later that night. 
The spokesperson added that Alito was later examined by his personal physician and returned to work the following Monday for oral arguments. 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that Republicans are "prepared" for the possibility of a retirement on the high court. 
"That's a contingency, I think, around here you always have to be prepared for. 
And if that were to happen, yes, we would be prepared to confirm," Thune said, referring to any candidate that would be put forth. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 14.3%Michael Katz: 3.2%Newsmax: 3.4%Confirmation Bias14.3%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 1.1%Newsmax: 0.9%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 16.8%Michael Katz: 3.3%Newsmax: 3.2%Availability Heuristic16.8%This article: 7.2%Michael Katz: 0.8%Newsmax: 0.9%Representativeness Heuristic7.2%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.9%Newsmax: 0.5%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 3.9%Newsmax: 3.8%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 15.0%Michael Katz: 7.7%Newsmax: 11.0%Framing Effect15.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 1.3%Newsmax: 0.8%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 12.1%Michael Katz: 1.3%Newsmax: 0.9%Status Quo Bias12.1%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.1%Newsmax: 0.1%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 4.4%Michael Katz: 4.1%Newsmax: 4.1%Optimism Bias4.4%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.8%Newsmax: 2.9%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 6.2%Michael Katz: 6.8%Newsmax: 10.3%Negativity Bias6.2%This article: 8.1%Michael Katz: 5.8%Newsmax: 3.0%Self-Serving Bias8.1%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.7%Newsmax: 1.2%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.1%Newsmax: 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 5.3%Newsmax: 2.7%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 2.1%Newsmax: 1.3%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 3.9%Newsmax: 2.0%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.6%Newsmax: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.0%Newsmax: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 6.2%Michael Katz: 1.7%Newsmax: 1.9%Recency Bias6.2%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.5%Newsmax: 0.4%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.1%Newsmax: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 2.4%Newsmax: 1.3%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.1%Newsmax: 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 16.8%Michael Katz: 5.4%Newsmax: 4.8%Appeal to Authority16.8%This article: 7.5%Michael Katz: 2.2%Newsmax: 2.4%False Dilemma7.5%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 2.0%Newsmax: 1.4%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.1%Newsmax: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 4.7%Newsmax: 4.2%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 7.2%Michael Katz: 0.2%Newsmax: 0.3%Red Herring7.2%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.6%Newsmax: 0.5%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 8.5%Newsmax: 6.0%Appeal to Emotion0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 1.1%Newsmax: 1.1%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 5.9%Michael Katz: 4.1%Newsmax: 3.8%Post Hoc (False Cause)5.9%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.1%Newsmax: 0.2%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.4%Newsmax: 0.5%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.1%Newsmax: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.0%Newsmax: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 20.9%Michael Katz: 1.6%Newsmax: 0.9%Anecdotal20.9%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.0%Newsmax: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 12.1%Michael Katz: 2.4%Newsmax: 2.1%Ambiguity (Equivocation)12.1%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.0%Newsmax: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 4.4%Michael Katz: 0.1%Newsmax: 0.2%Middle Ground4.4%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.0%Newsmax: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.1%Newsmax: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.1%Newsmax: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 25.2%Michael Katz: 4.0%Newsmax: 3.1%Unattributed Quote25.2%This article: 11.5%Michael Katz: 2.0%Newsmax: 1.9%Quote-first Misdirection11.5%This article: 2.8%Michael Katz: 1.8%Newsmax: 4.1%Biased Writer Voice2.8%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 1.5%Newsmax: 1.0%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.0%Newsmax: 0.3%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 0.5%Newsmax: 1.5%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Michael Katz: 1.8%Newsmax: 1.1%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

321 words analyzed.

Speakers

5speakers56%attributed speech140writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 9 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 39 words • 0.0% coverageCBS News • 17 words • 100.0% coverageFox News Digital • 37 words • 100.0% coverageFox News • 13 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 23 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageSupreme Court spokesperson • 28 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 0.0% coverageSupreme Court spokesperson • 22 words • 0.0% coverageJohn Thune • 26 words • 0.0% coverageJohn Thune • 14 words • 100.0% coverageJohn Thune • 24 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Fox News Digital

100%flagged-word coverage
37 attributed words20% of attributed speech79% writer coverage
0%50.0%100.0%Unattributed Quote+100.0 ptsWriter: 0.0%Fox News Digital: 100.0%100.0%Quote-first Misdirection+100.0 ptsWriter: 0.0%Fox News Digital: 100.0%100.0%Biased Writer Voice-6.4 ptsWriter: 6.4%Fox News Digital: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.