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Stephen G. Breyer's Influence On The Supreme Court

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Pragmatic. Moderate. Persevering. These are just some of the words that describe Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who, a few days before his meeting with the president, had gotten into a car accident with a punctured lung and broken ribs. After rushing out of the hospital to meet Bill Clinton, Breyer was appointed as a Justice on August 3rd, 1994 (Oyez). While being classified to the Liberal wing of the Supreme Court, Breyer is one of the more moderate judges, who could potentially become a swing-voter if the retirement of Justice Kennedy were to precede his. Justice Breyer, who has been serving just a bit over 23 years, has been involved in many landmark cases which have shown his continued ideals and ideas for as long as he’s been serving. Not …show more content…

Stephen Breyer’s presence on the Supreme Court is one of unpredictability in the upcoming years of administrations. Unfortunately, there is also a very real possibility of three Justices stepping down in coming years, due to the fact that all of them are approaching around, or have surpassed the age of 80. One of the biggest concerns in both government and media today is the possibility of a heavily skewed Supreme Court in favor of conservative policies. This, coupled with the fact that most leadership in our current government is being dominated by Republicans doesn’t bode well for the future of Democratic policies and bills, which directly affects Breyer as a judge. The pressure on him is …show more content…

Heller, in which Breyer disagreed with the majority and believed that the District of Colombia, did in fact have full permission to limit handgun laws. In his dissenting opinion, being the pragmatist that he is, Breyer states that the Second Amendment only provides context for militia-related, not self-related defense and concludes this, in turn, means that this amendment does not disable government intervention in pursuing these laws. Because Breyer is not an originalist of any sort, his dissenting opinion is one that tells of this nature and the belief that the Amendments do not provide

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