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Why Supreme Court Justice Breyer's replacement could be from California

A Sacramento law professor discusses Biden's top picks to replace Supreme Court Justice Breyer

Why Supreme Court Justice Breyer's replacement could be from California

A Sacramento law professor discusses Biden's top picks to replace Supreme Court Justice Breyer

OLYMPICS IN BEIJING. GULSTAN: SUPREME COU JRTUSTICE STEPHEN BREYER, WILL RIRATET THE END OF THIS SESSION. THE 83-YEAR-OLD HAS BEEN A CONSISTANT LIBERAL VOTE ON THE COURT. NOW, PRESIDENT BIDEN WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO NOMINATE HIS FIRST SUPREME COURT JUSTICE PI OCKF HIS PRESIDENCY. WE’RE JOINED NOW BY MCGEORGE SCHOOL OF LAW PROFESSOR LEIESL JACO.BS THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. PROFESSOR, THE WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMED PRESIDENT BIDEN WILL STAND BY HIS PLEDGE TO NOMINATE A BLACK WOMAN TO REPLACE JUSTICE BREYER. ONE OF THE TOP CANDIDATES WE’RE HEARING ABOUT IS LEONDRA KRUGER, A JUSTICE ON THE CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT. WHAT WOULD SHE BRING AS A NOMINEE? >> SHE BRINGS EXCELLENT LOCATIONS, AN EXCELLENT LAW SCHOOL EDUCATION, PRIVATE LAW FIRM EXPERIENCE, GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE, AND NOW SHE HAS EXPERIENCE BEI ANG JUDGE ON THE CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT. SHE HAS SHOWN HERSELF TO BE REASONED AND DELIBERATE IN HER OPINIONS. NOT WILD OR IDEOLOGICAL. SOMEONE LEIK BREYER. A PRACTICAL, INCREMENTAL TYPE OF DECISION-MAKING. GULSN:TA WHAT ABOUT SOMEBODY WHO MIGHT HAVE MORE NAME RECOGNITION? I HAVE HEARD THE NAME OF THE VICE PRESIDENT OUT THE.RE LET’S TALK ABOUT HER AND MAYBE OTHER POSSIBLE NOMINEES. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS? >> SHE IS DEFINITELY AND EXCELLENT VICE PRESIDENT. QUITE FRANKLY I HAVE NOT HEARD THAT NAME BEING PUT OUT. THE TOP CONTENDER WOULD BE -- SORRY -- CATANIA BROWN JACKSON. SHE WOULD SERVE ON A DISTRICT COURT AND IS NOW ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS, ELEVATED BY PRESIDENT BIDEN. WHAT SHE HAS GOING FOR HER, BESIDES HAVING EXCELLENT CREDENTIALS AS WELL IS THAT SHE HAS ACTUALLY BEEN THROUGH A SENATE CONFIRMATION PROCEDURE. DEPENDING ON HOW IMPORTANT THAT IS TO THE PRESIDENT, THAT WILL BE A FACTOR THAT IS DIFFERENT. GULSN:TA GIVEN THE WAY THE HOUSE IN THE SENATE IS RIGHTOW N, A IMSL MAJORITY, DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY IN ETH SENATE, WOULD YOU EXPECT A FAIRLY EASY CONFIRMAONTI PROCESS GIVEN THE FACT TO THIS IS A ONE-FOR-ONE EXCHANGE? >> ONE THING IS THE STAKES ARE NOT AS HIGH AS THEY HAVE BEEN BECAUSE THE LINEUP ON THE COURT IS SET. ATTH IS NOT ON THE TABLE. AT THE SAME TIME WE CAN SUBJECT -- WE CAN EXPECT THERE WILL BE POSTURING AND OPPOSITN,IO BUT THE QUESTION WOULD BE WILL THERE BE SUCH OPPOSITION THAT REPUBLICANS FOR EXAMPLE WOULD TRY TO STOP THIS? THEY ACTUALLY DO NOT HAVE THE- POWER TO DO SO UNLESS SOMETHE- DEMOCRATIC SENATORS WERE TO DEFECT. GULSN:TA GREAT HAVING YOU ON AND THANKS FOR LENDING YOUR EXPERTISE. WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS AS THIS ALL UNFOL
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Why Supreme Court Justice Breyer's replacement could be from California

A Sacramento law professor discusses Biden's top picks to replace Supreme Court Justice Breyer

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of this session. The 83-year-old has been a consistent liberal vote on the court. Now, President Joe Biden will have a chance to nominate his first Supreme Court Justice pick of his presidency.McGeorge School of Law Professor Leslie Jacobs joined KCRA 3 to discuss one of Biden's top candidates from California – Justice Leondra Kruger.(Video above: Supreme Court Justice Breyer stepping down)Biden is eyeing at least three judges for the expected vacancy, and each of them would fulfill his campaign pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the nation’s highest court, according to aides and allies.Kruger is currently a justice on the California Supreme Court. She is a graduate of Harvard and Yale’s law school, and was previously a Supreme Court clerk. Kruger has argued a dozen cases before the justices as a lawyer for the federal government."She brings excellent qualifications; she has an excellent law school education; she has private law firm experience, government experience and now she has experience being a judge on the California Supreme Court," Jacobs said on Wednesday. "She has shown herself to be reasoned and deliberate in her opinions. Not wild or ideological." Jacobs said Kruger is comparable to Breyer because her rulings are practical."One thing is the stakes are not as high as they have been because the lineup on the court is set. So, that is not on the table. At the same time, we can expect there will be posturing and opposition, but the question would be 'Will there be such opposition that Republicans, for example, would try to stop this?' But they actually do not have the power to do so unless some Democratic senators were to defect," Jacobs said. Gov. Gavin Newsom remarked on Breyer stepping down Wednesday. The San Francisco native "has brought core California values to our nation’s highest court throughout his distinguished tenure, shaping impactful decisions to strengthen our democracy and change lives for the better," Newsom said. Justice Breyer will retire at the end of the summer, according to two sources who confirmed the news to The Associated Press on Wednesday. The Senate can confirm a successor before there is a formal vacancy, so the White House was getting to work and it was expected to take at least a few weeks before a nomination was formalized.Other successors Biden is considering include U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs.| RELATED | Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer retiring-The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of this session. The 83-year-old has been a consistent liberal vote on the court. Now, President Joe Biden will have a chance to nominate his first Supreme Court Justice pick of his presidency.

McGeorge School of Law Professor Leslie Jacobs joined KCRA 3 to discuss one of Biden's top candidates from California – Justice Leondra Kruger.

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(Video above: Supreme Court Justice Breyer stepping down)

Biden is eyeing at least three judges for the expected vacancy, and each of them would fulfill his campaign pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the nation’s highest court, according to aides and allies.

Kruger is currently a justice on the California Supreme Court. She is a graduate of Harvard and Yale’s law school, and was previously a Supreme Court clerk. Kruger has argued a dozen cases before the justices as a lawyer for the federal government.

"She brings excellent qualifications; she has an excellent law school education; she has private law firm experience, government experience and now she has experience being a judge on the California Supreme Court," Jacobs said on Wednesday. "She has shown herself to be reasoned and deliberate in her opinions. Not wild or ideological."

Jacobs said Kruger is comparable to Breyer because her rulings are practical.

"One thing is the stakes are not as high as they have been because the lineup on the court is set. So, that is not on the table. At the same time, we can expect there will be posturing and opposition, but the question would be 'Will there be such opposition that Republicans, for example, would try to stop this?' But they actually do not have the power to do so unless some Democratic senators were to defect," Jacobs said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom remarked on Breyer stepping down Wednesday.

The San Francisco native "has brought core California values to our nation’s highest court throughout his distinguished tenure, shaping impactful decisions to strengthen our democracy and change lives for the better," Newsom said.

Justice Breyer will retire at the end of the summer, according to two sources who confirmed the news to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The Senate can confirm a successor before there is a formal vacancy, so the White House was getting to work and it was expected to take at least a few weeks before a nomination was formalized.

Other successors Biden is considering include U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs.

| RELATED | Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer retiring

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.