Roberts Suffers Seizure

Yikes:

Chief Justice John Roberts suffered a seizure Monday, causing him to fall while at his summer home off the coast of Maine, the Supreme Court said.

Roberts has "fully recovered from the incident," and a neurological evaluation "revealed no cause for concern," the Supreme Court said in a statement.

Doctors called the incident a "benign idiopathic seizure," similar to one suffered by the chief justice in 1993, the court statement said. An idiopathic seizure is one with no identifiable physiological cause.

A source close to the chief justice told CNN that Roberts fell five to 10 feet after the seizure.

Roberts, 52, was conscious after the fall, which caused only minor scrapes, the Supreme Court said.

I'm far from John Roberts' biggest fan, but I do wish him a speedy recovery. Aside from simple human decency, let's be honest, were he to die, Bush would find a way to appoint someone far worse. It's what Bush does.

One thing this does highlight, though, is why it's pointless to assume that the age of a Supreme Court justice is indicative of how long they'll serve. Roberts could serve forty years -- or this could be a sign of something awful. I myself would happily split the difference -- Roberts could serve two more years, and then live another fifty.

Seriously, none of us -- not you, not me, not John Roberts nor Ruth Bader Ginsburg knows how long we have left. All any of us can do is the best we can in the time we have. On that front, I have some criticism of Roberts. But that's no reason to wish him poor health, and I certainly don't; in all seriousness, I hope he recovers completely.