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Stephen Breyer

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Stephen Breyer
Current Court Information:
Supreme Court of the United States
Title:   Associate Justice
Service:
Appointed by:   Bill Clinton
Approval vote:   87-9
Active:   8/3/1994-Current
Preceded by:   Harry Blackmun
Past post:   First Circuit
Past chief:   1990 - 1994
Past term:   1980-1994
Past position:   Seat #4
Personal History
Born:   8/15/1938
Home State:   San Francisco, CA
Bachelors:   Stanford University, Oxford University Magdalen College
Law School:   Harvard Law

Contents

Stephen Gerald Breyer (born August 15, 1938) is a Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. He was appointed in 1994, by Democratic President Bill Clinton. Prior to appointment, he served on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 1980-1994, serving as chief judge for his last four years. [1]

Early life and education

Breyer was born to Irving Gerald Breyer and Anne A. Roberts, in San Francisco, California. Breyer's father was legal counsel for the San Francisco Board of Education.[2]

In 1955, Breyer graduated from Lowell High School. He debated regularly in high school debate tournaments, including against California governor Jerry Brown and future Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe.[3]

Breyer went on to receive a B.A. in philosophy from Stanford University, a B.A. from Magdalen College at the University of Oxford as a Marshall Scholar, and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from Harvard Law School.

Professional career

Following a clerkship with Supreme Court Associate Justice Arthur Goldberg in 1964, Breyer became a law professor and lecturer at Harvard Law School starting in 1967. There he specialized in administrative law, writing a number of text books that remain in use today. He held other positions before being nominated for the Supreme Court, including special assistant to the United States Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, and assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force in 1973.

Judicial career

Supreme Court

In 1993, President Clinton considered Breyer for the seat vacated by Byron White that ultimately went to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.[4] Breyer's appointment came shortly thereafter, however, following the retirement of Harry Blackmun in 1994, and Clinton nominated Breyer as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on May 17 of that year. Breyer was confirmed by the Senate in an 87 to 9 vote and took his seat August 3, 1994.[1]

First Circuit

From 1980-1994, Justice Breyer served as a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, including as the court's Chief Judge from 1990 to 1994. He was nominated to the Court of Appeals by President Jimmy Carter on November 13, 1980. The U.S. Senate confirmed Breyer on December 9, 1980 by an 80-10 vote, in the last days of the Carter administration. He served as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States between 1990 and 1994 and the United States Sentencing Commission between 1985 and 1989.[5] On the sentencing commission, Breyer played a key role in reforming federal criminal sentencing procedures, producing the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which were formulated to increase uniformity in sentences for criminal cases.[6]

Judicial philosophy

In a review of his 2010 book, "Making Our Democracy Work, A Judge's View," Breyer argues that, "The job of the Supreme Court is to apply the Constitution's values to modern circumstances, using the tools of judging: precedent, text and an assessment of the purpose of the constitutional provision at issue." [7]

For a full review of the book, in addition to a more detailed description, read: the article.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Justice Breyer Bio from the Federal Judicial Center
  2. ↑ Oyez Bio
  3. ↑ Oyez Bio
  4. ↑ Clinton Names Ruth Ginsburg, Advocate for Women, to Court
  5. ↑ Supreme Court Bio
  6. ↑ Duke University News
  7. ↑ NPR.org, "History Through A Supreme Court Justice's Lens," September 13, 2010

Portions of this article have been taken and edited from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Copyright Notice can be found here.

Federal judicial offices
Preceded by:
NA - new seat 		First Circuit
1980–1994
Seat #4 		Succeeded by:
Sandra Lea Lynch
Preceded by:
Harry Blackmun 		Supreme Court
1994–present 		Succeeded by:
NA
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