Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States

Stephen Breyer b. 1938

Former Eagle Scout, Rhodes Scholar, and Harvard Law Review editor, Stephen Breyer has served since 1994 as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, where he has carved out a niche as a liberal pragmatist who favors close examinations of the purpose and consequences of the law over conservative readings of the language of the law. Born in San Francisco, Breyer built an impressive resume on his way to the Supreme Court, including serving as law clerk to Justice Arthur Goldberg, Assistant Special Prosecutor of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force, chief counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, professor of law at Harvard Law School, and chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.