Seated in October of l994, Justice Stephen Breyer is the 108 person to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Described as "brilliant, friendly and nice," Breyer graduated from Stanford in l959 with a degree in philosophy.1 He later earned his law degree at Harvard Law School. Since 1967, Justice Breyer has served as either a full-time professor or part-time lecturer at Harvard. His primary interest is administrative law, having an "active interest in economic regulation affecting industry, in antitrust law, and in securities law."2 Before being nominated to the Supreme Court, Breyer served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston.
II. Judicial Philosophy:.
Breyer may be generally considered conservative, but his judicial philosophy is more complicated than the label suggests. He has acquired this evaluation mainly because of his stance on antitrust law and regulation, especially environmental regulation. One commentator considers him anti-consumer and probig business, based on his record as a Circuit Court of Appeals justice where he ruled in favor of corporate defendants in all 19 antitrust cases which came before him.3 It would be more accurate to say that Justice Breyer's judicial philosophy is informed by neoclassical models of economic theory and a concern for efficiency. Furthermore, he holds a strong belief in the ability of parties to contract freely and is "inclined to hold reasonably sophisticated parties to the terms of the bargain expressed in the contract."4 While stressing the utility of economics in judicial and regulatory decisions, Justice Breyer understands that economic theory is a tool of the law, it is not the law itself5. This is especially true in cases dealing with health and safety, where he often refuses to use economics to place a normative value on life.
Justice Breyer is skeptical of government intervention in the marketplace, particularly where the government chooses to regulate industry directly.