Latest news with #JusticeSouter
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
The Man Who Knew When to Step Down
On May 8, an extraordinary American died. He set an example that seemed unremarkable at the time but looms much larger in hindsight. I'm speaking of Justice David Souter, and regardless of what you thought of his jurisprudence, he made one decision that every American should applaud and every American leader should emulate. He knew when to step aside. President George H.W. Bush nominated Souter to the Supreme Court in 1990. He was confirmed the same year, served 19 years on the court and retired in 2009. He wasn't a young man then — he was just shy of his 70th birthday — but it turns out that he had lots of years left to live. He was still performing at a high level. I didn't share his judicial philosophy (and frequently disagreed with his rulings), but I never doubted his integrity or his intellectual rigor. Lawyers who argued before him knew that he could be a formidable justice. He routinely exposed and picked apart weak arguments. After he left the court, he spent the next 16 years as one of America's quietest public officials. He heard cases at the Court of Appeals (retired Supreme Court justices sometimes hear arguments at the Courts of Appeals), but he rarely spoke publicly, and he made almost no news at all. He served his country, he went back home and we hardly heard from him again. There was a time when Justice Souter's decision would be unremarkable. Justices retired all the time, and while some stayed in office well into their 80s (Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and John Paul Stevens were 90 when they retired), for most of American history, the average age of retirement for Supreme Court justices hovered between 66 and 73 years old. I'm talking about retirement for an obvious reason — once again, Americans are embroiled in arguments about the advanced age of all too many of our judges and politicians. And once again, the nation is confronting a profound political and legal transformation that might not have happened if only powerful people (and their powerful enablers) let someone else have a turn. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
14-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
It's Time for a Course on the Constitution
To the Editor: Re 'A Warning From Justice Souter: Too Much Ignorance Will Imperil Democracy,' by Adam Liptak (Sidebar column, May 13): Justice David Souter was prescient in raising the alarm in 2012, long before the Trump presidency. Like Justice Souter, the founding fathers were instructed by the fall of the Roman Republic and fashioned our separation of powers to avoid its pitfalls. Now President Trump is attempting to sweep aside constitutional restraints on executive power and establish 'presidential government,' with the legislative and judicial branches diminished and compliant. Mr. Trump's authoritarianism is built on his cult of personality. Will his corruption of American constitutionalism become so structurally embedded that any successors could rule without the cult? That is the unresolved question. Steven Berkowitz New York To the Editor: David Souter, the former Supreme Court justice who died last week, once stated, 'I don't believe there is any problem of American politics and American public life which is more significant today than the pervasive civic ignorance of the Constitution of the United States and the structure of government.'
Wall Street Journal
11-05-2025
- Wall Street Journal
Notable & Quotable: David Souter
From Paul A. Gigot's Potomac Watch column, July 27, 1990. Justice Souter died May 8 at 85:
CNN
09-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
In pictures: Supreme Court Justice David Souter
Souter, right, leaves the US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Castle, New Hampshire, in 1969. At the time, he was the assistant attorney general of New Hampshire. AP Souter was born in Massachusetts, but he grew up and attended grade school in New Hampshire. He went on to attend Harvard University, the University of Oxford, and Harvard Law School. Ken Williams/Concord Monitor/AP Souter signs documents after being sworn in. With him, from left, are Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Sandra Day O'Connor, Thurgood Marshall, Anthony Kennedy, Harry Blackmun and John Paul Stevens. Ken Heinen/Pool/AP Souter works with a group to promote civics education in New Hampshire schools in 2009. In a break with today's norms, Souter retired from the Supreme Court that year, seeking a return to his contemplative life in New Hampshire. Souter was only 69 when he stepped down – far younger than most departing justices. He never married, and he was never fond of the Washington social scene. Jim Cole/AP Souter, second from left, stands with members of the Supreme Court before a procession marking Harvard Law School's bicentennial in 2017. Standing with him, from left, are Anthony Kennedy, John Roberts, Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Neil Gorsuch. Jessica Rinaldi/The
The Independent
09-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter dead at age 85
Justice David Souter, a quiet and iconoclastic jurist who spent nearly two decades on the United States Supreme Court from 1990 to 2009, has died at age 85. In a statement, Chief Justice John Roberts praised his late colleague as having 'served our Court with great distinction for nearly twenty years' and said the Granite State resident had 'brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service.' Roberts also praised Souter for spending roughly 10 years of retirement as a part-time judge on the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and said his former colleague would be 'greatly missed.'
