STEPHEN BREYER
Name: Stephen Gerald Breyer
Born: 15 August 1938 San Francisco, California
Stephen Gerald Breyer (born August 15, 1938) is an American attorney, political
figure, and jurist. Since 1994, he has served as an Associate Justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court. Known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, Breyer is
generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court.
Following a clerkship with Supreme Court Associate Justice Arthur Goldberg in
1964, Breyer became well-known as a law professor and lecturer at Harvard Law
School starting in 1967. There he specialized in the area of administrative law,
writing a number of influential text books that remain in use today. Other
prominent positions before being nominated for the Supreme Court included
serving as special assistant to the United States Assistant Attorney General for
Antitrust and an assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special
Prosecution Force in 1973.
Breyer is currently known as an intellectual leader of the liberal wing of the
Supreme Court, and particularly as a counter to the conservative Justice Antonin
Scalia. In his 2005 book Active Liberty, Breyer made his first attempt to
systematically lay out his views on legal theory, arguing that the judiciary
should seek to resolve issues so as best to encourage popular participation in
governmental decisions. His views and approach have been described by others as
pragmatic but also deferential to the legislative branches.
Name: Stephen Gerald Breyer
Born: 15 August 1938 San Francisco, California
Stephen Gerald Breyer (born August 15, 1938) is an American attorney, political
figure, and jurist. Since 1994, he has served as an Associate Justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court. Known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, Breyer is
generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court.
Following a clerkship with Supreme Court Associate Justice Arthur Goldberg in
1964, Breyer became well-known as a law professor and lecturer at Harvard Law
School starting in 1967. There he specialized in the area of administrative law,
writing a number of influential text books that remain in use today. Other
prominent positions before being nominated for the Supreme Court included
serving as special assistant to the United States Assistant Attorney General for
Antitrust and an assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special
Prosecution Force in 1973.
Breyer is currently known as an intellectual leader of the liberal wing of the
Supreme Court, and particularly as a counter to the conservative Justice Antonin
Scalia. In his 2005 book Active Liberty, Breyer made his first attempt to
systematically lay out his views on legal theory, arguing that the judiciary
should seek to resolve issues so as best to encourage popular participation in
governmental decisions. His views and approach have been described by others as
pragmatic but also deferential to the legislative branches.