Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer sent a letter to Joe Biden on Tuesday saying he’ll be retired as of noon this Thursday. Ketanji Brown Jackson can have his hot-seat on the bench and good luck. Meanwhile, the entire Supreme Court is winding up the current session at the same time, so they can go into hiding from liberal protesters.
Breyer suddenly steps down
Suddenly, without any advance notice, the Supreme Court decided to close out the year by Thursday. In that case, Justice Stephen Breyer decided, now is time to hand the office keys to Ketanji Jackson. He wrote a letter informing Joe Biden and started packing his personal effects in a box.
“This past January, I wrote to inform you of my intent to retire from regular active service as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, upon the Court rising for its summer recess.” Now’s the time.
Jackson clerked for the outgoing justice as part of her legal education. She’s ecstatic to be taking her oath of office, mere moments after Breyer clocks out, at noon on June 30. Breyer will administer one of the two oaths as his last official act.
Chief Justice John Roberts will cast the final spell with a second oath, making her presence on the highest court in the land official. The incoming liberal replaces an outgoing liberal, who occasionally sided with conservatives. It gives Democrats a little more peace of mind but doesn’t shift the balance of power any.
SCOTUS issued a formal statement noting they’ll pick up the pieces without Breyer when they make it back to Washington for the new session in October.
All they really care about now is surviving long enough to ditch the protesters in front of their houses and go into hiding. “A formal investiture ceremony will take place at a special sitting of the Court in the Courtroom at a later date.”
Appointed by Bill Clinton
Stephen Breyer had been appointed back in 1994 by Bubba Clinton. He’s thrilled to be replaced with his former clerk.
“You have nominated and the United States Senate has confirmed the Honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson to succeed me in the office, and I understand that she is prepared to take the prescribed oaths to begin her service as the 116th member of this Court,” the justice noted in his resignation letter.
Breyer will actually be missed by both sides of the political aisle because of his “pragmatic views of the law.” He liked to get down to the nuts and bolts of constitutional issues and didn’t always agree with his left-leaning colleagues. Once in a while, he dared to side with conservatives.
Prior to becoming a member of SCOTUS, he “taught law for Harvard Law School and at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government for several years and has written books and articles on administrative law and economic regulations.”
In his most recent book, “Making Democracy Work: A Judge’s View,” Breyer “took a deep dive into the inner workings of the U.S. Constitution.”
Before he got to the highest court, he served as an Appeals judge for the 1st Circuit. In his farewell letter he noted, it “has been my great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the Rule of Law.“
