Judicial Birthday Watch: Happy Birthday, Justice Breyer!

Today Justice Stephen G. Breyer, A3G's favorite among the four liberal justices, celebrated his 67th birthday. As Howard Bashman noted, 67 is "[t]he perfect age to stop being the 'junior' Justice." So Happy Birthday, Justice Breyer!

For more on Justice Breyer's early life, check out this very interesting bio, which has the following juicy tidbits:

Stephen Gerald Breyer was born on August 15, 1938 in San Francisco, California. Only one generation from poverty, Breyer's middle-class family lived frugally. Breyer's father, Irving Breyer, worked as a lawyer and legal counsel for the San Francisco Board of Education. His mother, Anne, spent most of her time as a volunteer for the San Francisco Democratic Party and for the League of Women Voters.

Although Breyer's parents sent him and his brother to religious school, the family did not observe their Jewish faith strictly. Instead, his parents pushed Breyer towards academic success. Anne Breyer also encouraged young Stephen to be well-rounded and avoid becoming overly bookish. She insisted that Breyer play sports even though he demonstrated little athletic ability. At a camp one summer, Breyer won the nickname Blister King for his tender feet. Still, Stephen Breyer persevered and achieved modest success. At age 12, he attained Eagle Scout and became known as the "troop brain."

"The Blister King" attended public elementary and high schools in San Francisco, including the prestigious Lowell High School, before heading off to Stanford (from which he received his bachelor's degree with "Great Distinction"). Then "The Troop Brain" went off to Oxford as a Marshall Scholar, followed by Harvard Law School and a Supreme Court clerkship with Justice Goldberg. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Although he's originally from the Bay Area, these days Justice Breyer is officially a resident of Massachusetts. As noted here (see item #2), earlier this year he dutifully showed up in Marlborough, MA, for jury service. (Alas, he was not selected.)

Is Justice Breyer off teaching in some exotic locale for the summer, or is he back at One First Street? If the latter, then perhaps he went out earlier today for a celebratory lunch with his clerks? If you have any info about how Justice Breyer (or any other Supreme Court justice) celebrated his birthday, please drop A3G a line!

Comments

[Scott]

Premature matriculation: No, it doesn't happen to everyone, and yes, it is a big deal.

[Hold Your Horsies]

Am I to believe that Aaron is still an undergraduate but is already earmarking a position on the Elect for judicial year .... 2010-11? Instead of following potential members of the Elect, which would be as exciting as reviewing the transcripts of state trial courts, how about we focus on creating a term for such precocious lawyer-wannabes?

Some personal run-ins with such wannabes. . . A girl taking a summer fluff Spanish course in Argentina stated that she went to law school, like me. When asked which law school, she responded "NYU and Columbia." Obviously perplexed, I asked her to clarify and she told me that she still had to finish undergrad, hadn't taken the LSAT yet, but was sure she would get into both NYU and Columbia because of all the Spanish she was learning in South America.

A friend lives in another foreign country for the time being. She also has a year left of undergrad when she returns to the States. Nevertheless, she would always refer to us collectively as "lawyers" since she is a legal studies undergraduate major.

I am sure the readers of this blog have had many similar run-ins with those who are already counting their clerkship bonuses from Cravath before they even know what a tort is.

Something like "chicken-hatchers," but more jurisprudential, would be appropriate perhaps?

[Dylan]

Parody is dead.

[Aaron Chandler]

I'm going to be a senior at the UW-Seattle this year, and after that, I'm probably going to get a dual MPA/JD degree. I really, really want to do a clerkship - for Berzon, Reinhardt, Diane Wood, Ginsburg, Souter, Stevens (if he's still on the Court in his 90s!), Kennedy or Breyer - just so I can receive the same glamorous treatment by you! Eventually, though, I hope to be just like Marsha Berzon - and thus receive the same Darth Vader treatment from A3G. Really, though - she's a judicial hero of mine, and I love her bench-slapping and her opinions. ;)

I'd also add diversity to your mix: I'd be the only black (well, 1/4, but it counts), Jewish AND gay - not to mention, hot - member of the Elect; in fact, I may be the only gay member of the Elect ever mentioned by A3G. :)

Also, just a suggestion for inclusiveness: perhaps, you can begin keeping a file on possible future members of the Elect, including current law students, as well as undergrads; this would also mean including them in judicial-hottie-like contests. Just a suggestion.