Breyer’s last day

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will officially retire at noon today, according to a letter he sent to the White House yesterday, ending a nearly three-decade tenure on America’s highest court.

⚖️ A deeper dive... Breyer was nominated by President Clinton in 1994 and approved by a wide margin; his ​​87-9 Senate confirmation was the last one with fewer than ten dissenting votes.

• A moderate liberal, he was a pragmatic force on a Court that grew increasingly conservative during his term, often forging majorities with more moderate justices to the right and left of center, per the AP.
• Over the years, Breyer authored majority opinions upholding the Affordable Care Act, resolving a multi-billion dollar copyright dispute between Google and Oracle, and affirming free speech rights of students off-campus, among others.
• He also joined several notable dissents, including an objection to the use of the death penalty and a recent dissent against the Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

👀 Looking ahead… Breyer is being replaced by his former clerk, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who’ll become the first Black female Justice in Supreme Court history. She’ll also be the third Black justice and sixth woman overall, bringing the current Court to a record four women.