In very sad news, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on the morning on Friday, May 9, that former Supreme Court Associate Justice David Souter, appointed to the court by former President George HW Bush, had passed away. He apparently died in his New Hampshire home on Thursday, May 8, at the age of 85.
As background, former Justice Souter was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1990 by then-President HW Bush. A left-leaning moderate who helped the leftist judges in cases like 1992′s Planned Parenthood v. Casey, he retired in 2009 and was replaced by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, now much-detested by conservatives, who was appointed to the court by President Barack Obama.
In any case, AG Bondi announced Souter’s passing in a post on X (formerly Twitter), praising former Justice Souter for his career of public service and praying for him and his family. She said, “I am deeply saddened to hear that Justice David Souter has passed away. He was a brilliant man who devoted his life to public service and our courts. I am praying for his family.”
The Supreme Court issued a statement on former Justice Souter’s passing as well, saying, “Retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, David H. Souter, died peacefully yesterday at home in New Hampshire. He was 85 years old. Justice Souter was appointed to the Court by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, and retired in 2009, after serving more than 19 years on the Court.”
Continuing, the statement quoted Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. as saying, “‘Justice David Souter served our Court with great distinction for nearly twenty years. He brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service. After retiring to his beloved New Hampshire in 2009, he continued to render significant service to our branch by sitting regularly on the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit for more than a decade. He will be greatly missed.'”
The statement then gave a bit of background on Souter’s career, saying, ” Justice Souter was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, on September 17, 1939. He graduated from Harvard College, from which he received his A.B. After two years as a Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, he received an A.B. in Jurisprudence from Oxford University and an M.A. in 1963. After receiving an LL.B. from Harvard Law School, he was an associate at Orr and Reno in Concord, New Hampshire, from 1966 to 1968, when he became an Assistant Attorney General of New Hampshire. In 1971, he became Deputy Attorney General and in 1976, Attorney General of New Hampshire. In 1978, he was named an Associate Justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire, and was appointed to the Supreme Court of New Hampshire as an Associate Justice in 1983. He became a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on May 25, 1990.”
Concluding, it noted what the former justice did after retiring from the Supreme Court, noting that he helped advance civics education in his home state of New Hampshire. It provided, “In addition to hearing cases on the First Circuit, Justice Souter participated in civics education curriculum reform efforts in New Hampshire during his retirement.”
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Economist journalist Steven Mazie, who reports on SCOTUS, posted about Souter’s legacy on X, saying, “Justice Souter is the only member of the Court in recent memory to retire in his prime after a good, long stint of 19 years—rather than serve into his 80s or die in robes. He was 70 when he retired and has spent the last 15 years enjoying life in his home state of New Hampshire.”
Mazie added that Souter backstabbed Bush and the GOP that confirmed him, saying, “He was also the last justice to depart meaningfully from the ideology of the president who appointed him. Souter was appointed by George Bush the elder and, within a few terms, started voting in most contentious cases with the liberal wing of the Court.”
Mazie also noted that it was Souter who sparked the Federalist Society’s increasing involvement in picking nominees, saying, “His leftward drift later led to Republican calls for ‘No More Souters’ in SCOTUS appointments, with the Federalist Society taking on a central role in ensuring that GOP nominees would remain faithful to the cause.”