Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter Dies At 85

Sunira Moses/Wikimedia Commons

Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter died at 85 years old on Thursday in his New Hampshire home, the court announced.

Souter, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, served on the court for more than 19 years.

“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,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement. “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.”

Former President Barack Obama nominated Justice Sonia Sotomayor to take Souter’s place on the court following his retirement in 2009. After retiring at 69, Souter continued to hear cases on the First Circuit Court of Appeals for more than a decade and worked on civics education efforts in New Hampshire.

Though the George H.W. Bush White House hoped he would be a strong conservative voice on the court, Souter’s jurisprudence later aligned more closely with the court’s liberal wing. In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, he joined Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy to author an opinion declining to reverse Roe v. Wade, instead replacing its trimester framework for evaluating abortion restrictions with a new “undue burden” standard.

Conservatives later came to see Souter’s appointment as a disappointment, making “No More Souters” the motto when it came time for George W. Bush to select his nominee.

While on the bench, Souter also issued other significant rulings. In Lee v. Weisman, Souter joined the majority in holding that the Establishment Clause bars public schools from welcoming clergy to deliver even nonsectarian prayers during graduation ceremonies.

In Bush v. Gore, Souter joined dissenting justices who wanted Florida to continue its ballot recount.

“To recount these manually would be a tall order, but before this Court stayed the effort to do that the courts of Florida were ready to do their best to get that job done,” he wrote. “There is no justification for denying the State the opportunity to try to count all disputed ballots now.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.