Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Announces Retirement

As announced by President Joe Biden on January 27th, Supreme Court Justice of 27 years, Stephen Breyer, will be retiring from his position. Breyer was appointed in 1994 by former president Bill Clinton. This was after being interviewed for appointment during the previous year and losing to Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Of the current nine Justices in the Supreme Court, two-thirds are conservative, while only one-third is liberal. As one of these liberal Justices, Breyer creates an opportunity for liberal President Joe Biden to appoint another nominee of similar political standing.

It has been illustrated in recent years that the repercussions of avoiding retirement in the Supreme Court can be severe for one’s political party. Since Supreme Court Justices serve either for life or until retirement, most Justices attempt to strategically retire at a time in which the president, who appoints Supreme Court Justices, shares their political leaning. In September of 2020, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was 87 and had served on the court for 27 years, died. Ginsburg was liberal, and her death therefore created an opportunity for conservative President Donald Trump to replace her with a conservative Justice. Ginsburg was replaced by controversial Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and her replacement took the court from a 5-4 conservative lean to a 6-3 conservative lean. With so few liberal Justices in the court, this opening represents a valuable opportunity for President Biden to use a similar tactic for his own political party.

During the 2020 campaign trail, Joe Biden claimed that, if elected, he would appoint a black woman as a Supreme Court justice when the opportunity arose. Many have criticized Biden for not living up to his campaign promises, such as his claim to erase student debt, and this opportunity may be vital for Biden in proving that he is providing what he once promised.

As President, Biden has yet to officially announce if he will uphold his promise, but it is generally thought that he will. Some of the black women who are rumored to be considered for the appointment include DC Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, and South Carolina US District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs.