Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement in January. However, Justice Breyer now says it is official. He will leave the Supreme Court on Thursday, June 30th.
Fox News
Breyer, who notified President Biden in January of his intent to retire at the end of the current term, updated the president in a letter Wednesday, after the Supreme Court made it known that it will issue its final opinions of the term Thursday morning.
“The Court has announced that tomorrow, beginning at 10 a.m., it will hand down all remaining opinions ready during this Term. In accordance with the 28 U.S.C., I have resigned from active service. § 371(b) will be effective on Thursday, June 30, 2022, at noon,” Breyer wrote.
As indicated in Justice Breyer’s letter, the Court will issue the remaining two opinions for its term on Thursday morning. These are the remaining two cases Biden v. Texas (regarding the Biden administration’s attempted termination of the Trump era “Remain in Mexico” policy) and West Virginia v. EPA (regarding the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants)
Justice Breyer has authored the following opinions:
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United States v. Zubaydah – In a 7-2 vote, the court Reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit’s ruling and Remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that in the context of Zubaydah’s discovery application, the 9th Circuit erred by ruling that state-secrets privilege did not apply to information that could confirm or deny the existence of a CIA detention site in Poland.[1]
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Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, LP – The court Get rid the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in a 6-3 ruling and Remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that the safe-harbor provision of the Copyright Act of 1976 protects copyright applications that contain inaccurate information due to the applicant’s lack of either legal or factual knowledge. Justice Stephen Breyer delivered the majority opinion of the court. Justice Clarence Thomas filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch.[1]
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Shurtleff against the City of Boston – In a 9-0 opinion, the court Reversed the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit and Remanded the case for further proceedings. It held that the city of Boston violated the First Amendment when it denied a group’s application to fly a Christian flag in front of city hall. Justice Stephen Breyer delivered the court’s opinion. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a concurring opinion, and Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch wrote opinions concurring in the judgment, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas.[1]
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Ruan v. United States – The court Get rid the decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and Remanded the cases for further proceedings in a 9-0 ruling, holding that in order for a defendant to be convicted for unauthorized distribution of controlled substances under §841 of the Controlled Substances Act, the government must prove the defendant knowingly or intentionally acted in an unauthorized manner. Justice Stephen Breyer delivered the court’s majority opinion. Justice Samuel Alito wrote an opinion concurring in the judgment, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett.[1] Click here for more information about the ruling.
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Torres V. Texas Department of Public Safety – In a 5-4 ruling, the court Reversed the decision of the Texas Thirteenth District Court of Appeals and Remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that “by ratifying the Constitution, the States agreed their sovereignty would yield to the national power to raise and support the Armed Forces. Congress may exercise this power to authorize private damages suits against nonconsenting States, as in USERRA.”[1] Justice Stephen Breyer delivered the majority opinion of the court. Justice Clarence Thomas filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett. You can find more information on the ruling by clicking here
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United States v. Washington – In a unanimous ruling, the court Reversed the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit’s decision and Remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that Washington’s law discriminates against the federal government and its contractors on its face and is unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause since §3172 does not clearly waive the federal government’s immunity from discriminatory state laws. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the majority opinion.[1] Click here for more information about the ruling.
Breyer’s replacement, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, will take her seat with the Court when it reconvenes for the October 2022 term. She will be the Court’s 116th member.
Justice Breyer was a Stanford Law graduate. He joined the Court as a nominee by President Bill Clinton in 1994. Justice Clarence Thomas joined the Court in 1991. Justice Breyer, however is currently the second longest serving justice.
Breyer ended his letter to President Biden by saying this:
“It has been my great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the Rule of Law.”
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