"Washington is obsessed with the Supreme Court right now, scrutinizing every judicial cough and comment for hidden evidence of illness or retirement plans," Newsweek contributing editor Dahlia Lithwick writes in a "The Verdict" column, which will appear in the April 6 issue of the magazine. According to Lithwick, most of this attention involves the possible retirement of Justices John Paul Stevens, who is nearly 89 years old, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who recently underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer. In addition, there is "speculation" about the retirement of Justice David Souter, "who pines for a return to his New Hampshire home" and recently "described the beginning of each court's term as the start of a 'sort of annual intellectual lobotomy,'" she says. She notes that "justices seem to cling to the tradition of retirement as political jack-in-the-box." According to Lithwick, "One might well imagine a ... round of 'After you, Alphonse,' playing out between Souter, Stevens and Ginsburg this spring as they attempt to sort out their own preferences, then communicate with each other in polite, speculative code…