May 13 2021 In recent days, there have been calls within the Democratic Party of the United States for senior liberal Justice Stephen Breyer to “abdicate” in order to allow another young liberal justice to enter the U.S. Supreme Court under controlled circumstances. But at the same time, there are concerns that a single-minded “forced palace” would backfire.
Irving Chemolinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and a law professor, recently published an article in The Washington Post entitled “Breyer should learn from Ginsberg’s mistakes – retire now.”
Breyer, who turns 83 in August, is likely to serve on the Supreme Court for another year, he said. But if he doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of the late Justice Ginsburg and let someone with the opposite idea take his seat, he should “step down” as soon as possible.
In this way, U.S. President Joe Biden will also have the best chance to choose someone who can inherit his values.
Ginsburg, 87, died suddenly in 2020. Then-U.S. President Donald Trump immediately sent a conservative to the Supreme Court, further expanding the conservative advantage on the court.
Mr Chemolinski said he had expressed concerns in 2014 and advised Mr Ginsburg to retire, but mr Ginsburg said he was in good health and had no intention of resigning.
Mr. Chemolinsky said Mr. Ginsburg was “betting” that he would stay on as Democratic president. Now, he worries that the same thing is happening to Breyer, making liberals more vulnerable on the Supreme Court, and that they may need to convince more conservatives when making decisions.
In fact, as early as mid-April, U.S. Democratic Congressman Jones has publicly called on the elderly justice to “abdicate.” He said Breyer should retire in the summer of 2021. Several Democrats have since made the same point.
Democrats, on the other hand, are worried that calling for Breyer’s retirement could anger him or appear too political, undermining their plan to seek a liberal young man to replace Breyer on the Supreme Court.
“I’m not sure that putting that pressure on Justice Breyer really helped him make a decision,” said Whitehouse, a Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
