Justice Breyer Says He’s Considering Retirement

The New York Times reports:

Justice Stephen G. Breyer says he is struggling to decide when to retire from the Supreme Court and is taking account of a host of factors, including who will name his successor. “There are many things that go into a retirement decision,” he said. He recalled approvingly something Justice Antonin Scalia had told him.

“He said, ‘I don’t want somebody appointed who will just reverse everything I’ve done for the last 25 years,’” Justice Breyer said during a wide-ranging interview on Thursday. “That will inevitably be in the psychology” of his decision, he said. “I don’t think I’m going to stay there till I die — hope not,” he said.

Read the full article.

Breyer is anti court packing, citing the inevitability of a partisan tit for tat arms race, but is positive about imposing (sufficiently long) term limits to help aging justices struggling w/ prospect of retirement. “It would make my life easier,” he said. https://t.co/5oto8WadVN

— Charlie Savage (@charlie_savage) August 27, 2021