Some Justices Pine for an Old Colleague

“For nearly three decades, during the Supreme Court’s most difficult and divisive moments, one man could be counted on to help keep the peace,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“With anecdotes about modern architecture and knock-knock jokes he learned from his grandchildren, Justice Stephen Breyer was known for lightening the mood, even as he fought for pragmatic center-left rulings on a court that tilted to the right.”

“It has been four years since Breyer, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1994, retired. But now, as relationships on the court appear to be fraying, several current justices have privately expressed that they miss his presence, both as a friend and for his ability to lower the temperature, according to people close to the court.”