Hello and welcome. It is Eric Erickson here. The Eric Erikson show. Well, you know, the cool thing about doing a news talk show is the news component of it. Sometimes news breaks. You've spent all morning preparing your show and suddenly 10 minutes before the show you're diverging. It's actually kind of cool. It keeps you on your toes. And well, we have major breaking news happening at the start of this here program. We'll get to phone calls. The phone number,

all that later. Just, just prepare yourselves. Stephen Breyer is going to retire from the United

States Supreme Court. I think we all kind of knew this was coming. What is so interesting about

it is he signaling it now.

It is, if you're listing live and on time, January 26th, 2022.

The Supreme Court term does not end until June.

So why announce now?

This is actually one of the earlier retirement announcements for a Supreme Court justice. Normally they wait until towards the end of the term. I've got my suspicions. I'll get into my suspicions here, but let me give you the background here. He's been in the federal court system since 1980. Jimmy Carter appointed Stephen Breyer to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

He got in office December 10, 1980. He was there until 1994 when Bill Clinton appointed him to the United States Supreme Court.

He is the last of the Bill Clinton appointees on the United States Supreme Court.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg had been the other one there with him.

Sondra Sotomayor and Sondra Sotomayor and Atlanta Kagan are Barack Obama appointees.

Clarence Thomas has been there longer than anyone.

He was appointed by George H.W. Bush back in the early 1990s, late 80s, early 90s, and he will be,

he's the oldest member of the court still there, longest serving, I should say.

Breyer is, how old is he, 83 years old? He's older than Clarence Thomas, but has not served

as long as Clarence Thomas. There's something

to be said for appointing younger jurists. Now, there are a lot of people out today on the left

of the right already saying Merrick Garland, it's his turn. Merrick Garland, put him there. The

Attorney General famously denied even a confirmation hearing by Mitch McConnell and the Republicans

when Barack Obama nominated him.

But the problem here for Merrick Garland is he's old.

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