Justice Stephen Breyer was a liberal pragmatist, not a leftist ideologue, writes QuinHillyer. Breyer’s replacement, Ketanji Brown Jackson, seems unlikely to prove nearly as modest. Conservatives should lament his retirement and wish him well.
By almost all accounts, Breyer was a mensch. Cordial and dedicated to collegiality and institutional stability, Breyer worked to maintain what remains of the high court’s status and its sense of itself as a less partisan and less political institution. Attitudinally, this is important: The nation needs the court to act as an honest broker to the greatest extent possible, which first requires that the justices continue seeing themselves, and trying to act, that way.
Toward that end, Breyer consistently and courageously rejected calls from today’s leftists to support “expanding” the number of Supreme Court justices . Breyer put his jurisprudence where his mouth was. During his 28 years on the court, Breyer usually was the most likely member of the “liberal bloc” of justices to join conservatives or centrists in opinions, or to urge narrower liberal readings of the Constitution rather than more sweeping ones. While no conservative would ever consider Breyer an ally in constitutional interpretation, conservatives knew in most instances they could at least expect him to attempt to keep an open mind.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Justice Stephen Breyer to officially retire Thursday at noon, swear in Ketanji Brown JacksonNEW: Ketanji Brown Jackson will take both her oaths tomorrow at noon — Chief Justice John Roberts administering the Constitutional Oath and Justice Breyer delivering the Judicial Oath.
Read more »
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer retiring on Thursday at noonJustice Breyer wrote, 'It has been my great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the Rule of Law.' He will retire at noon on Thursday, and Ketanji Brown Jackson will be filling his seat on the Supreme Court.
Read more »
Justice Stephen Breyer, a consistent liberal vote on Supreme Court, to retire ThursdaySUPREME COURT RETIREMENT: Justice Stephen Breyer, who has been a consistent liberal voice on the Supreme Court for nearly 3 decades, notifies White House of his plan to retire as of Thursday
Read more »
Justice Stephen Breyer, a consistent liberal vote on Supreme Court, to retire ThursdayJustice Stephen Breyer, a consistent liberal vote on the Supreme Court, has notified the White House that his retirement will be effective Thursday.
Read more »
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer retires, standouts from yesterday's elections, and more trending topicsJustice Stephen Breyer has notified the White House that his retirement will be effective Thursday, June 30, at noon ET. Get more on today's trending topics here.
Read more »
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer retires, standouts from yesterday's elections, and more trending topicsJustice Stephen Breyer has notified the White House that his retirement will be effective Thursday, June 30, at noon ET. Get more on today's trending topics here.
Read more »