Key Takeaways
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of the court’s term.
- He was the first and so far only judge to include talk fairly about Bitcoin and cryptos in his opinon.
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com)- Justice Stephen Breyer will retire from the Supreme Court at the end of the current term. The 83-year-old is one of the three remaining liberal justices who has served more than 27 years. President Bill Clinton nominated him to the court in 1994. His retirement now gives President Joe Biden, the incumbent president, a chance to nominate another liberal justice in his stead.
Justice Breyer had of late found himself under immense pressure to retire. The Democrats now have a vulnerable narrow majority in the Senate. They have received the support of two independent Senators, Bernie Sanders and Angus King.
All nominations to the Supreme Court require the approval of the US Senate, which explains the predicament of the Democrats. As it stands, six of the nine justices at the apex court are conservatives. The only other two liberal justices sitting with Stephen Breyer are Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan. President Barack Obama nominated them both.
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A fair shot for crypto
During the nearly 28 years at the Supreme Court, Stephen Breyer did not fear going against the currents. Be it during cases involving abortion and the death penalty, or controversial matters such as immigrant detention, Breyer has always been vocal about his views.
Perhaps it should not have come as a surprise when in 2018 Breyer threw subtle but important support for cryptocurrencies.
In the judgment on Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. the United States, Stephen Breyer made a reference to Bitcoin (BTC). The crypto circles welcomed it as a positive development.
While the court eventually ruled that stocks do not count as money, Breyer fell back on cryptocurrencies to disagree with the court’s opinion on what constitutes ‘money.’
In his dissenting opinion, Stephen Breyer argued that the definition of money has changed over time, and hence the court should not keep it rigid and limited.
“Moreover, what we view as money has changed over time. Cowrie shells once were such a medium but no longer are … our currency originally included gold coins and bullion, but, after 1934, gold could not be used as a medium of exchange… Perhaps one day employees will be paid in Bitcoin or some other type of cryptocurrency.”
Breyer wrote:
At the time, Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies witnessed what people would later term as “the great crypto crash”. To get an endorsement from a sitting justice that Bitcoin can potentially be classified as money was a landmark moment in crypto history.
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First African American female justice
Stephen Breyer’s retirement also gives President Biden the chance to make good on his campaign promise of nominating the first African American female justice in the court’s history.
“Number one, I committed that if I’m elected as president & have the opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, I’ll appoint the first Black woman to the Court. It’s required that they have representation now — it’s long overdue.”
President Biden said back in March of 2020.
After the news of Breyer’s retirement broke, speculations about the potential nominees did the rounds. Although the list could include at least seven candidates, two women seem to be strong contenders. None of them have said anything openly yet about Bitcoin.
According to various sources, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson leads the list. Last year, she already once received the nod of the US Senate. President Biden elevated her from the Federal District Court in the District of Columbia to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The second strongwoman eyeing the post is Justice Leondra R. Kruger of the California Supreme Court. A graduate of Yale Law School, the 45-year-old will be a young edition to the court. She formerly served as a law clerk to former Justice John Paul Stevens of the Supreme Court. She also served as an acting deputy solicitor general during the presidency of Barack Obama.
It is still unclear which of these women will take charge. However, everyone in the cryptocurrencies circles will be watching to see what opinions the nominee holds about Bitcoin and cryptos.
