Retirement of Stephen Breyer

After nearly 28 years on the Supreme Court, Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring at the end of the 2021-22 term. Here is a collection of resources on Breyer’s work, his retirement, and the upcoming nomination of a successor. A reverse-chronological list of all SCOTUSblog coverage of Breyer’s retirement is at the bottom of this page.

Breyer’s retirement

• Stephen Breyer, pragmatic liberal: A retrospective on his life and career
• Breyer’s retirement letter to President Joe Biden
• At White House announcement, echoes of a ceremony 28 years prior

Symposium on Breyer’s jurisprudence

• Brent Newton: Justice Breyer: A pragmatic moderate
• Lincoln Caplan: Justice Breyer and Parents Involved
• Ronald Levin: Justice Breyer as administrative law pragmatist
• Michele Goodwin: Justice Breyer: A formidable defender of reproductive rights

Tributes to Breyer

• Statements from the current justices and two retired justices
• Brianne Gorod: Justice Breyer, the optimistic pragmatist
• Vince Chhabria: The diversity of Justice Breyer’s legacy
• Pratik Shah: Life lessons from Justice Breyer
• Deanne Maynard: The many Stephen Breyers
• Aileen McGrath: Always an optimist, always a teacher
• Carolyn Shapiro: Learning from Justice Breyer’s vision for solving problems in a pluralistic nation

Nomination of a successor

• Profiles of potential nominees
  • J. Michelle Childs
  • Ketanji Brown Jackson
  • Leondra Kruger
• Biden reiterates promise to nominate a Black woman, lauds Breyer as “model public servant”
• How Biden will choose the next Supreme Court nominee
• SCOTUStalk special episode: The retirement of Stephen Breyer

Breyer’s writing

• Significant majority opinions
  • Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. (2021)
  • California v. Texas (2021)
  • Google v. Oracle (2021)
  • June Medical Services v. Russo (2020) (plurality opinion)
  • Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt (2016)
  • Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (2016)
  • Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama (2015)
  • National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning (2014)
  • Stenberg v. Carhart (2000)
  • Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium v. Federal Communications Commission (1996)
• Significant dissents
  • Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid (2021)
  • Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020)
  • Glossip v. Gross (2015)
  • District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)
  • Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007)
  • Vieth v. Jubelirer (2004)
  • Bush v. Gore (2000)
  • Clinton v. City of New York (1998)
• Books
  • The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics (2021)
  • The Court and the World: American Law and the New Global Realities (2016)
  • Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge’s View (2011)
  • Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution (2006)
  • Breaking the Vicious Circle: Toward Effective Risk Regulation (1995)
  • Regulation and Its Reform (1984)
• Other significant writing
  • Economic Reasoning and Judicial Review (2009)
  • Our Democratic Constitution (2002)
  • The Federal Sentencing Guidelines and the Key Compromises Upon Which They Rest (1988)
  • Judicial Review of Questions of Law and Policy (1986)
  • Analyzing Regulatory Failure: Mismatches, Less Restrictive Alternatives, and Reform (1979)
  • Vermont Yankee and the Courts’ Role in the Nuclear Energy Controversy (1978)
  • The Uneasy Case for Copyright: A Study of Copyright in Books, Photocopies, and Computer Programs (1970)