U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is planning to retire at the end of the court’s term in the summer, according to various media outlets.

Breyer, 83 years old, is the second-most senior associate justice, having served nearly three decades on the high court. Generally siding with the liberal justices, Breyer was reportedly encouraged to retire by those who wanted to ensure President Joe Biden's nominee would benefit from a Senate controlled by Democrats, USA Today reported.

During his 2020 campaign, Biden pledged to make history by naming an African American woman to the Supreme Court, if he got the chance. The two leading contenders are said to be federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was on President Barack Obama's shortlist in 2016, and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, NPR reported.

In 2014, Kruger was the youngest person to be appointed to the California Supreme Court.

The 45-year-old justice has plenty of experience with the high court, having worked as a clerk for the late Justice John Paul Stevens and served as acting deputy solicitor general in the Obama administration. At the Justice Department, she also earned the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service – the department's highest award for employee performance, CNN reported.

At the California Supreme Court, her high-profile opinions include maintaining that law enforcement couldn’t search a woman's purse without a warrant after she declined to provide a driver's license and...

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