Breyer Signals Support For Age And Term Limits On Supreme Court Justices

Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer indicated support on Sunday for age and term limits on the high court’s justices, saying he does not believe it is harmful to impose such rules given the impact of the current standard’s lifetime appointment.

The retired liberal justice sat down with Kristen Welker on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where he discussed the ongoing effects of the conservative majority’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The decision, written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, allows states to implement strict abortion bans that have since led many people to continue unwanted and unsafe pregnancies and abortions without proper access to reproductive health care.

Breyer was among the three justices who dissented on the consequential ruling that struck down Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood, a decades-old precedent that protected abortion rights. The justice dissented immediately before retiring from the court at age 83, allowing for President Joe Biden to appoint liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as his replacement.

On Sunday, Breyer said that he does not believe setting age and term limits on justices “would be harmful.” Currently, serving on the Supreme Court is a lifetime appointment unless the justice decides to retire.

“I think it would have helped, in my case. It would have avoided, for me, going through difficult decisions when you retire,” the former justice told Welker. “What’s the right time? And so, that would be OK.”

The Dobbs ruling was decided by the court’s conservative justices, three of whom were appointed by former President Donald Trump. One of those justices, Neil Gorsuch, was appointed by Trump after Senate Minority Leader Mitch