Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement to take effect Thursday
ByTheresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
ByTheresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer has informed President Joe Biden of his intent to retire from his role beginning at noon on Thursday.
In a letter shared by the Supreme Court, Breyer wrote that his time as a justice will end after the nation’s highest court hands down its final opinion from this term. Earlier, the court announced it will announce its opinions beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday.
“It has been my great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the Rule of Law,” Breyer wrote.
The 83-year-old announced in January his plan to retire from the Supreme Court after nearly three decades. Then-President Bill Clinton appointed Breyer to the court in 1994.
Before serving on the Supreme Court, Breyer served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit after being appointed to the court in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter. He served as chief justice of the court from 1990 to 1994.
In April, the Senate voted 53-47 to confirm U.S. Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve as Breyer’s replacement. She had previously been on former President Barack Obama’s shortlist for the Supreme Court.
Jackson will be the third Black justice and the sixth woman to serve on the court in its history. She will be the first Black woman to fill a seat on the Supreme Court.
In a statement, officials with the Supreme Court said Jackson will be sworn in as the 104th associate justice of the court at noon Thursday.
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Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years Here are some memorable photos of Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer through the years. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 1994: U.S. President Bill Clinton and his Supreme Court nominee Stephen Breyer walk to the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Monday, May 16, 1994, where the president officially introduced Breyer to the nation. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2003: U.S. Supreme Court Justices (from left, seated) Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, (from left, standing) Associate Justice Clarence Thomas and Stephen G. Breyer pose for pictures at the U.S. Supreme Court on December 5, 2003, in Washington, D.C. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2005: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (right) and Henrietta Fore, director of the U.S. Mint, participate in a ceremony to unveil the Chief Justice John Marshall Silver Dollar on May 4, 2005, at the Supreme Court Upper Great Hall in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2009: Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (left) talks with Justice Stephen Breyer during the Sandra Day O'Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary's forum "Striking the Balance: Fair and Independent Courts in a New Era" at Georgetown University Law Center May 20, 2009, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2010: U.S. Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg (left), Stephen Breyer, Vice President Joseph Biden and first lady Michelle Obama smile as President Barack Obama speaks during a reception in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month on May 27, 2010, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2011: Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer testifies during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 5, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2012: U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer arrives for a lunch hosted in honor of Prime Minister David Cameron at the State Department on March 14, 2012, in Washington, D.C. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2013: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (left) speaks with British Ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott, England's Prince Harry and Lady Wesmacott before a reception and dinner at the British Ambassador's residence on May 9, 2013, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2015: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Patrick Kennedy, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and Dr. Joanna Breyer attend the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate Opening Night Gala and Dedication on March 29, 2015, in Boston. (Paul Marotta/Getty Images for Edward M. Kennedy Institute)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2016: At center front, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and wife Jane Sullivan Roberts, trailed by Justice Stephen Breyer and wife Joanna Hare and in back row, Justice Clarence Thomas and wife Virginia Thomas, walk down the steps of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at the end of the funeral for late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on February 20, 2016, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2017: Front row from left, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas and Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, back row from left, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr., Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch pose for a group portrait in the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court on June 1, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2018: United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer poses for the court's official portrait in the East Conference Room at the Supreme Court building November 30, 2018, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2020: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch (left) and Justice Stephen Breyer stand during a private ceremony for Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the U.S. Supreme Court on September 23, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images)
Photos: Stephen Breyer through the years 2021: Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 2021. Seated from left: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Standing from left: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. (Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images)
