Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is not opposed to the idea of term limits for judges on the highest court, he said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
When asked by Kristin Welker whether he thought there should be age limits on the Supreme Court, Breyer responded, “I don’t think that’s harmful, if you had long terms for example. They’d have to be long.”
The liberal justice served a tenure of 28 years on the Supreme Court before retiring in 2022, at the age of 82.
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“You don’t want someone who’s appointed to the Supreme Court to be thinking about his next job,” Breyer said, explaining why long terms were essential if limits were imposed.
“And so a 20 year term, an 18 year term? Fine, fine. I don’t think that would be harmful,” he continued.
The 85-year-old retired justice added that term limits would’ve helped him sort through the difficult decision when he made the choice to retire two years ago. After his retirement, President Joe Biden appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson as his replacement, making her the Court’s first Black female appointee.
