Home Supreme Court A Short Biography on Justice Stephen Breyer

A Short Biography on Justice Stephen Breyer

A Short Biography on Justice Stephen Breyer

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994. He is considered a liberal pragmatist.
Stephen Breyer was born August 15, 1938 in San Fransisco, California. He graduated from Lowell High School in 1955, before completing a B.A. degree in philosophy from Stanford University, and going on to become a Marshall Scholar at Magdalen College at Oxford University. He also earned a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Harvard Law School.
After completing his schooling, Stephen Breyer completed a clerkship with Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg. He then became a law professor and Lecturer at Harvard Law School beginning in 1967. He also wrote a series of prominent textbooks on administrative laws which are still in use. 
He served as a Special Assistant to the United States Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust and assistant Special Prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force in 1973. In 1980, he was appointed Circuit Judge to the Court Appeals for the First Circuit, and in 1990 was appointed Chief Judge of the First Circuit. He served as Chief Judge for four years, until President Clinton nominated him to serve on the Supreme Court.