(The Hill) — Retired Justice David Souter, who served nearly twenty years on the Supreme Court and was known for shifting towards the court’s liberal faction, passed away on Thursday, as reported by the court. He was 85.
The announcement from the court did not specify the cause of death but noted that Souter passed away peacefully at his home in New Hampshire, where he had resided since retiring in 2009.
“Justice David Souter served our Court with great distinction for nearly twenty years,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement.
“He brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service,” Roberts stated. “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 over a decade. He will be greatly missed.”
Souter was appointed to the court by former President George H. W. Bush in 1990, serving for nearly 20 years.
Appointed in 1990 by former President George H.W. Bush, Souter soon began migrating to the court’s liberal wing, inspiring Republican backlash that centered on the rallying cry, “No More Souters.”
Within two years, Souter was part of a coalition that upheld the essential holding of Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to abortion, and Souter also sided with he court’s liberals on major issues like affirmative action and religion.
He was also one of the four dissenters in Bush v. Gore, the case that enabled former President George W. Bush to take office in the hotly contested 2000 presidential election.
Souter considered resigning after the decision, believing his five colleagues in the majority acted in a “crudely partisan” fashion, legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin revealed years later in his book, “The Nine, Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.”
But Souter would remain on the court until 2009, when he retired after more than 19 years. At 69 years old at the time, his unusually young age made his retirement come as a surprise.
The justice returned to his roots in New England, where he grew up and began his legal career.
A Rhodes Scholar and graduate of Harvard Law School, Souter entered public service after a short stint in private practice. He began working as a prosecutor in New Hampshire’s attorney general’s office, rising the ranks until he became the state attorney general in 1976.
Two years later, he was named to a state court before eventually being appointed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court and later the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where Souter served until his nomination to the nation’s highest court.
Following his retirement, he continued to hear cases at 1st Circuit by sitting by designation.
Souter had a reputation for keeping a low profile. He was never married and made few public appearances following his retirement, though in 2012, he did offer a stark warning of what he called “pervasive civic ignorance.”
“I don’t believe there is any problem of American politics in 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,” Souter said.
