Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Retires

In news that has liberals sighing emphatic sighs of relief, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer retires. He has discussed his plans to retire with President Biden and will make a formal announcement this week. 

Breyer’s announcement opens the door for Biden to fulfill his campaign promise of nominating the first black woman to the Court. 

From Law Professor To Supreme Court Justice

In 1993, Breyer was on the shortlist to fill a Court vacancy. On the way to Washington to meet then-President Clinton, Breyer was knocked off his bike by a car. He still attended the meeting with broken ribs, a punctured lung, and in considerable pain. 

Clinton decided, “nahhh,” and went with the far tougher Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The next year, however, Beyer was nominated and confirmed to serve on the Supreme Court. 

On the court, Breyer proved to be a moderate liberal with a talent for building consensus. He reportedly worked very well behind the scenes with other moderates like Sandra Day O’Connor. Today, however, such consensus and moderates are rare finds. 

Breyer often took on the conservative doctrine of “originalism,” which is the ideology of interpreting the Constitution in its “original” intentions (get it?). He often debated publicly with noted conservative originalist, Justice Antonin Scalia. 

“History is often in these matters a blank slate or a confused slate, and if you want to govern the country by means of that history, then you better select nine historians and not nine judges to be on the court.

“And I’ll tell you, those nine historians will very often disagree with each other.”

According to Breyer, the job of a Supreme Court justice is to apply the Constitution’s values to modern circumstances. By using the tools of judging – precedent, text, and the purpose of the constitutional provision at issue – Breyer argued that a more relevant and fairer judgment will be made by the Supreme Court. 

Make Way For The First Black Female Supreme Court Justice

Breyer’s departure from the Court opens the door to quite a few very qualified black women. The often discussed frontrunner is Ketanji Brown Jackson. If confirmed, she would be the first black woman to serve on the supreme court. In 2019, she famously ruled that Trump lawyer Don McGahn had to comply with a congressional subpoena. She wrote: 

“The primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that Presidents are not kings.”

Also on the shortlist to replace Breyer are Leondra Kruger, J. Michelle Childs, Wilhelmina “Mimi” Wright, Eunice Lee, Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, and Sherrilyn Ifill – all black women. 

Justice Stephen Breyer retires after the end of this Court’s term this summer.