U.S. Supreme Court's Breyer will officially retire on Thursday

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will officially retire on Thursday, paving the way for President Joe Biden's appointee Ketanji Brown Jackson to be sworn in to the lifetime position to replace him, the court said on Wednesday.

Breyer, 83, has served on the court since 1994 and announced his plans to retire in January. He will retire at noon (1600 GMT) on Thursday shortly after the court issues the last of its rulings of its current term. Jackson is set to become the first Black woman to serve on the nation's top judicial body.

"It has been my great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the Rule of Law," Breyer said in a letter to Biden.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)

By Andrew Chung