In a letter to President Joe Biden, Breyer said it was a “great honor” for him to participate as a judge in “efforts to preserve our Constitution and the rule of law.”
He said Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was ready to “take the prescribed oaths” to begin his service as the 116th member of the court.
The fact that the court will issue final opinions and orders on the same day reflects a faster deadline than previous deadlines. This suggests that judges who have been the subject of death threats since the publication of a draft opinion repealing Rowe v. Wade are seeking to end this important and divisive term as soon as possible.
There are two major cases awaiting a decision on the environment and immigration.
Breyer, who was appointed to court in 1994 by then-President Bill Clinton, announced his plans to retire in January. The long-awaited decision was met with a collective sigh of relief from Democrats, who feared losing their seat as future Republican president if the 83-year-old lawyer ignored an intense left-wing pressure campaign that prompted him to leave court while Biden was clear. way to replace it.
A consistent liberal vote for the Supreme Court with unwavering faith in the US system of government and a pragmatic view of the law, Breyer tried to focus the law on how it can work for the average citizen. He was not on fire and was quick to say that the Supreme Court could not solve all of society’s problems. He often emphasizes that the court should not be seen as part of the political branches, but acknowledges that some opinions may be unpopular.
In his later years in court, he was best known for the dissent he wrote in 2015 in a case of lethal injection. He took the opportunity to write separately and propose to the court to take into account the constitutionality of the death penalty.
The statement said Breyer said that after spending many years in court reviewing countless death sentences, he began to doubt whether innocent people had been executed. He also fears that the punishment is applied arbitrarily throughout the country. He noted that in some cases, death row inmates could spend years – sometimes in solitary confinement – awaiting execution.
Jackson, Breyer’s deputy, was confirmed by the Senate in April by 53-47 votes, with three Republicans joining Democrats to vote in favor. Although adding her to the bench does not change the court’s ideological balance, Jackson will be the first black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.
This story has been updated with additional details and basic information.
Devan Cole and Wolff Blitzer of CNN contributed to this report.
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