SC Justice Stephen Breyer Warns Democrats Who Want Him Out To Replace Him: ‘People Could Lose Trust In The Court’

The Supreme Court as composed October 27, 2020 to present.
The Supreme Court as composed October 27, 2020 to present. |

United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer warned Democrats who want him out that "people could lose trust in the court" if they pack the court with more justices.

NPR reported that the Democratic Party wants Breyer to retire in the hope that a younger liberal judge could take his place through President Joe Biden's appointment.

CBN News explained that the Democrats are pressuring Breyer to resign due to their "very slim majority in the Senate" that some even projected to become totally lost after the midterm elections in 2022.

However, the seasoned judge responded with a stern "no" as he will consider retirement on his terms during an interview with NPR in Boston for the promotion of his new book, "The Authority of the Court and the Perils of Politics."

"I'm only going to say that I'm not going to go beyond what I previously said on the subject, and that is that I do not believe I should stay on the Supreme Court, or want to stay on the Supreme Court, until I die," Breyer commented.

"And when exactly I should retire, or will retire, has many complex parts to it. I think I'm aware of most of them, and I am, and will consider them," he stressed.

The 83-year old California-raised judge, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton in 1994, is said to be one of the three least conservative in the Supreme Court. Breyer then warned the Democrats that insisting on court packing just so to add to the liberals in it would be more harmful.

He instead suggested during his interview with Fox News that appointments for Supreme Court judges be limited to terms instead of it lasting for a lifetime.

"If one party could do it I guess another party could do it. People could lose trust in the court," Breyer said on court packing.

"I think you could do that. It should be a very long term because you don't want the judge who's holding that term the start thinking about his next job. But it would make life easier for me," he disclosed on appointments.

The Democrats threatened to push with court packing in May when the Supreme Court accepted the "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization" case following promptings from the state of Mississippi to review its constitutionality. The said case is expected to overturn Roe v. Wade that the Democrats, led by Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, find threatening.

Blumenthal said overturning Roe v. Wade "will inevitably fuel and drive" the expansion of the Supreme Court through court packing since it "betrays fundamental constitutional principles." He likened it to a "seismic movement to reform the Supreme Court."

Biden supported the idea on court packing by creating a Supreme Court Commission in April, which most Americans rejected since it was perceived harmful to religious freedom. The Supreme Court Commission is tasked particularly to study the structure of the court and determine if there is really a need to restructure it.

Accordingly, adding new liberal members to the supreme court would "put a balance" to it since Democratic lawyers raise that "it needs to be fixed." Appointing liberal judges would help in the support of the policies the Democratic Party wants to put in place. The Supreme Court judges, currently nine in total, are said to be divided equally especially on issues on abortion, LGBT, and the likes.