Justice Steven Breyer and his Retirement
He was a brilliant, thoughtful, kind, generous, optimistic and warm-hearted man. He reminded me of all the best that America has to offer. We should applaud his wisdom in deciding at age 83 that it is time to step down and make way for the next generation of great Supreme Court justices.
President Biden has committed to add an African American woman jurist of “extraordinary qualifications, experience, character, and integrity.” It is certainly time to diversify the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has been the domain of white men from the nation’s most elite law schools. When I think of the great justices of our lives, Earl Warren, Thurgood Marshall, Hugo Black, William Brennan and Ruth Bader Ginsberg come to my mind. These were great leaders who advanced American justice. It did not matter where they went to law school, who they clerked for, what opinions they had written, or even what was their experience as a judge before being elevated to the Supreme Court.
In our time, when political institutions are frayed, when our democracy itself is under attack, when voting rights are in peril, and when dishonesty is rampant, we desperately need great leaders on the Supreme Court. My personal preferences would be a Stacey Abrams or a Barack Obama.
We should all be confident that the President Biden will nominate someone who meets the highest standards. Let’s hope that the US Senate acts quickly and wisely without partisan rancor in considering the President’s nominee for one of the highest and most consequential offices in the land.