Stephen Breyer Biography

Stephen Breyer was born on 15 August 1938, in San Francisco, in a Jewish family. His mother, Anne A., and father, Irving Gerald Breyer, belonged to an upper middle-class family.

Breyer completed his graduation from Lowell High School, from there he moved to Stanford University where he mastered in Philosophy in 1959.

He got the Marshall Scholarship that allowed him to study economics, politics, and physics at Oxford’s Magdalen College.

He pursued law from Harvard, and Breyer graduated from there in the year 1964. During his term, he was inducted into the Harvard Law Review group.

Breyer gained more exposure during his six months stay at the United States Army Reserve, in the Army Strategic Intelligence. He attained the position of a corporal during his stay, for his performance.

In 1964, Stephen Breyer assisted Justice Arthur Goldberg as a clerk. He was also appointed for checking facts for Warren Commission.

Breyer was the chief counsel of the United State’s Senate Judiciary Committee from the year 1974 to 1980 working on not only federal criminal code cases but airline and trucking deregulation as well.

Breyer was a full-time lecturer at Harvard Law School from the year 1967 up until 1994.

After taking a leave from the Harvard Law School teaching, he took up the role of an assistant prosecutor in the Watergate investigation.

The year 1980 was one of the highlight periods in his career. It was during this year he was appointed by President Carter to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. After this, Breyer was upgraded to the position of Chief Justice in 1990, succeeding Levin Campbell.

During his stay at Harvard, he proceeded to pen down two books—Regulation and Its Reform and Breaking the Vicious Circle: Toward Effective Risk Regulation.

Among Breyer’s literary works, the one which created much stir in the field of law was his skeptical views on copyright in the 1970s book The Uneasy Case for Copyright.

Breyer was one of the influential members of the commission that was set up to look into reforming the US way of sentencing (1985-1989). He played a major role in revamping the procedures for sentencing of federal criminals, thus introducing a new set of guidelines for federal sentencing that would bring uniformity in the structure.

Stephen Breyer’s book, Active Liberty (2005), is one of his major contributions to the judicial system. This book is a written response to Antonin Scalia’s book, A Matter of Interpretation (1997), where he stressed upon the method of sticking to the original meaning of the text only. Breyer on the contrary, advises to adapt a more democratic viewpoint while reviewing the cases. Thus, ensuring maximum liberty for the citizens.

Making our Democracy Work: A Judge’s View (2010) is a book where Breyer suggested the addition of ‘purpose’ and ‘consequences’ as important interpretive tools for assigning proper meaning to a legal proceeding. He cited a few instances from the past cases to support his suggestion, why considering consequences of a judgment is pivotal in a ruling. For instance - the case of Worcester v. Georgia where due to the ruling a huge damage was done to the judicial system, and that of the Dred Scott decision which was an important trigger for the American Civil War.

Stephen Breyer received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award by the Boy Scouts of America in the year 2007.

Stephen Breyer married his wife, Joanna, in 1967, at a village church in Suffolk, England. Joanna is a psychologist, and works with children suffering from cancer at Harvard Medical School.

Breyer has three children: Chloe, Nell and Michael. His eldest child, Chloe, is an episcopal priest.

Stephen Breyer is known for his love of opera and has been spotted attending performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

He is an avid cyclist and has been seen biking around the streets of Washington, D.C.

Breyer has a passion for writing and has published several books on topics ranging from law and democracy to the role of the judiciary.

He is known for his sense of humor and has been described by colleagues as having a quick wit and a knack for making people laugh.