Breyer, Stephen G. (1938-)

Early Years

Stephen Breyer, born on August 15, 1938, in San Francisco, California, was raised by middle class Jewish parents who emphasized the importance of public service and a good education. His father was an attorney who for years served as legal counsel for the city board of education. Breyer's mother was an active member of her local Democratic Party organization, the League of Women Voters, and a United Nations association. Breyer attended Lowell High School, a prestigious public school, where he excelled academically, was a champion debater, and was voted the member of his class “most likely to succeed.”

Deciding to attend Stanford rather than Harvard, Breyer was an outstanding student, earning perfect grades except for one B. After graduation, Breyer received a scholarship to Oxford University in England, where he studied economics and politics, both of which were to influence his future careers. Breyer then returned to the United States and was admitted to Harvard Law School, where he was articles editor for the law review and graduated magna cum laude.

Breyer's outstanding record at Harvard earned him a clerkship at the Supreme Court for Justice Arthur Goldberg. As a clerk, he helped draft Goldberg's concurring opinion in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), which discovered a source for the constitutional right to privacy in the unenumerated rights guaranteed by the Ninth Amendment. On finishing his clerkship, Breyer served as a special assistant to the assistant attorney general in the antitrust division of the Justice Department.

In 1967, Breyer was hired as an assistant professor at Harvard Law School. In 1970, he was promoted to full professor, and he served in that capacity until 1980. During his tenure at Harvard, he frequently returned to government service. For a short time, Breyer worked as an assistant special prosecutor for Archibald Cox in the Watergate investigation. He then served as special counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. During this time, Breyer became known as a consensus builder and compromiser. Breyer's most noted accomplishment was helping orchestrate a program for deregulation of the airline industry.

On the Bench

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter nominated Breyer as a judge on the Ninth Circuit. Considering Carter a potential lame duck, Senate Republicans held up many of his appointments but treated Breyer as an exception. Based on their prior dealings with him, both parties held him in high regard, and Breyer became the last Carterjudicial appointment confirmed by the Senate.

As a federal appellate court judge, Breyer gained a reputation for hard work, competence, and fairness. Many considered him to be a “judge's judge.” In 1985, Breyer was appointed as a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. In this capacity, he played a leading role in developing new federal sentencing guidelines.

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