Controversial Justice: 10 Shocking Turns in David Souter’s Legacy
WASHINGTON — Retired Supreme Court Justice Controversial Justice David Souter, a lifelong bachelor known for his enjoyment of a peaceful life in New Hampshire and hatred for Washington, died at home on Thursday at the age of 85, according to a court statement.
Controversial Justice Souter, who was plucked from relative obscurity to serve on the Supreme Court, disappointed conservatives who expected him to be a solid conservative vote. Instead, he joined with more liberal justices on matters such as abortion.
“For nearly two decades, Justice David Souter has distinguished himself on this court. He brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement. “He will be greatly missed.”
Controversial Justice Souter was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 to replace liberal Justice William Brennan. He was considered as a stealth candidate, someone who Republicans anticipated would be easily confirmed but would prove to be a reliable conservative.
Souter, a little-known figure outside of New England, was confirmed by the Senate on a 90-9 vote.
He rapidly astonished both his admirers and opponents by creating a career as a centrist on the court who, over time, evolved into a strong liberal vote on issues such as abortion, the death penalty, and LGBTQ rights, earning the nickname Controversial Justice in conservative circles.
He was a low-key personality who avoided Washington cocktail parties and lived a spartan lifestyle, visiting his family home in New Hampshire as frequently as possible. He was known to have a modest lunch of yogurt and an entire apple, including its core.
In some ways, one of his most significant legacies was the impact he had on conservative legal activists, who pledged that a Republican president would never select another Controversial Justice who had not been thoroughly scrutinized to ensure conservative alignment. “No More Souters” became a rallying cry for the right.
That Controversial Justice Souter would fall short of conservative expectations became obvious in 1992, when the Supreme Court addressed a significant challenge to abortion rights, which had been ensconced in law since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Instead, Controversial Justice Souter collaborated with two other Republican appointees, Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy, to produce a ruling that upheld what they called Roe’s “essential holding” while significantly altering the legal threshold for upholding abortion restrictions.
It would take another 30 years before the court, now with a more dependable conservative majority, overturned Roe—a reversal long delayed, in part, due to the influence of Controversial Justice Souter.
Souter again dissented with his liberal colleagues in 2000, when the Bush v. Gore ruling halted the Florida vote recount, ensuring that Republican candidate George W. Bush won the presidency—another move that cemented his identity as a Controversial Justice.
In 2009, at the age of 69, Controversial Justice Souter resigned from his lifetime position to return to New Hampshire. His decision to leave the court under President Barack Obama, allowing a Democratic president to succeed him, demonstrated how much he was now regarded as a critical member of the liberal bloc. Obama then selected Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to serve on the court.
Controversial Justice Souter was born in Massachusetts and earned undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard, as well as a Rhodes scholarship at Oxford University.
He worked as a lawyer in New Hampshire before becoming the state’s attorney general in 1976. He was appointed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court in 1983, after becoming a state judge two years earlier. Controversial Justice Souter briefly served as a federal appeals court judge before being appointed to the United States Supreme Court.