The recently retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has officially gotten a new job this past week in the wake of ending his multi-decade career as a federal judge.
After he stepped down from the bench, he has been called back to his alma mater, Harvard University, where he has been given a role as the Byrne Professor of Administrative Law and Process at Harvard Law School, and he is starting immediately.
The school released a statement saying that Breyer will “teach seminars and reading groups, continue to write books and produce scholarship, and participate in the intellectual life of the school.”
The Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor of Law, John F. Manning, labeled Breyer a “historic jurist and a world-class legal scholar who also has a distinguished history as a member of this faculty.”
“I am thrilled to welcome him home to Harvard Law School,” expressed Manning. “His brilliance, experience, collegiality, openness, and intellectual inquisitiveness will deeply enrich our community and advance our mission of teaching, scholarship, and service.”
Breyer stated in a release that he was quite happy to go back to the university and he looks forward to his time writing and teaching.
“Among other things, I will likely try to explain why I believe it important that the next generations of those associated with the law engage in work, and take approaches to law, that help the great American constitutional experiment work effectively for the American people,” he explained.
Back in January, news officially broke that Breyer had chosen to step down from his then seat on the highest court in the country, which ended up giving Democratic President Joe Biden his very first chance to nominate a justice to the Supreme Court.
Biden, not one to waste a chance to spawn a controversy, spent his entire selection process stating that he would be effectively discriminating by making his choice solely based upon race and sex.
“The person I nominate to replace Justice Breyer will be someone with extraordinary qualifications. Character, experience, and integrity,” expressed Biden at that time. “And they will be the first black woman nominated to the United States Supreme Court.”
Biden then quickly chose to nominate one Ketanji Brown Jackson to the now open seat on the highest court in the nation and once she made it through her confirmation hearings, she was officially sworn in last month.
“With a full heart, I accept the solemn responsibility of supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States and administering justice without fear or favor, so help me God,” stated Jackson in a release. “I am truly grateful to be part of the promise of our great Nation.”
“I extend my sincerest thanks to all of my new colleagues for their warm and gracious welcome,” she concluded.