Justice Stephen Breyer to Retire From Supreme Court on Thursday
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will also be sworn in tomorrow. She'll be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.
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Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer speaks at the White House about his coming retirement.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire on Thursday after the court's final opinions for the term are released. In a letter to President Joe Biden on Wednesday, Breyer said his retirement will be effective as of noon ET.
"It has been my great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and Rule of Law," Breyer said in the letter.
Breyer will be replaced by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, whom the Senate confirmed to the US Supreme Court in April. Jackson, who will be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, will be sworn in at noon ET on Thursday.
Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the Constitutional Oath and Breyer will administer the Judicial Oath, according to a release. In his letter, Breyer said Jackson is "prepared to take the prescribed oaths" to begin her service as the 116th member of the court.
The Supreme Court on Thursday morning will deliver its final opinions in what has been a tumultuous term. In addition to decisions on major issues including gun rights and climate change, the court on Friday overturned Roe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 decision that guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion. Breyer joined Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor in a dissenting opinion.
"With sorrow -- for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection -- we dissent," they wrote.
In January, Breyer first announced his plans to retire at the end of the court term.