Breyer to Retire

Pete Williams of NBC News reports that Associate Justice Stephen Breyer plans to retire from the U.S. Supreme Court at the end of the current  term.  Justice Breyer, 83, has been pressured by progressives to retire after Joe Biden won the presidency last year.   Liberal U.C. Berkeley law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky urged Breyer to step down and put “the good of the institution” ahead of his personal interests.  The progressive group Demand Justice actually hired a billboard truck to drive around Washington last year with a “Breyer Retire.  It’s time for a Black woman Supreme Court Justice,” sign.  Recognizing that optics are the priority among liberals Biden has already pledged to do this.  Williams speculates that federal judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and CA Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger are likely candidates.   Breyer’s replacement will not change the conservative/liberal balance on the court, but a young appointee, like Kruger at 45 or Jackson at 51, could serve for decades and be part of a future liberal majority.