David Souter | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1990 | |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| In office October 9, 1990 – June 29, 2009[1] | |
| Nominated by | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | William J. Brennan Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Sonia Sotomayor |
| Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit | |
| In office May 25, 1990 – October 9, 1990 | |
| Nominated by | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Hugh H. Bownes |
| Succeeded by | Norman H. Stahl |
| Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court | |
| In office 1983–1990 | |
| Nominated by | John Sununu |
| Preceded by | Maurice Bois |
| Succeeded by | Sherman Horton |
| Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court | |
| In office 1978–1983 | |
| 20th Attorney General of New Hampshire | |
| In office July 17, 1976 – September 19, 1978 | |
| Governor | Meldrim Thomson Jr. |
| Preceded by | Warren Rudman |
| Succeeded by | Thomas D. Rath |
| Deputy Attorney General of New Hampshire[2] | |
| In office 1971–1977 | |
| Assistant Attorney General of New Hampshire | |
| In office 1968–1971 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | David Hackett Souter September 17, 1939 Melrose, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican[3] |
| Education | Harvard University (BA, LLB) Magdalen College, Oxford (MA) |
| Signature |  |
David Hackett Souter (/ˈsuːtər/ SOO-tər; born September 17, 1939) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1990 until his retirement in 2009.[4] Appointed by President George H. W. Bush to fill the seat that had been vacated by William J. Brennan Jr., Souter sat on both the Rehnquist and the Roberts courts.
Raised in New England, Souter attended Harvard College, Magdalen College, Oxford, and Harvard Law School. After briefly working in private practice, he moved to public service. He served as a prosecutor (1966–1968) in the New Hampshire Attorney General's office (1968–1976), as the attorney general of New Hampshire (1976–1978), as an associate justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire (1978–1983), as an associate justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court (1983–1990), and briefly as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1990).[5]
Souter was nominated to the Supreme Court without a significant "paper trail" but was expected to be a conservative justice. Within a few years of his appointment, Souter moved towards the ideological center. He eventually came to vote reliably with the Court's liberal wing.[5][6] In mid-2009, after Democrat Barack Obama took office as U.S. president, Souter announced his retirement from the Court; he was succeeded by Sonia Sotomayor. Souter has continued to hear cases by designation at the circuit court level.
- ^ "Justices 1789 to Present". Washington, D.C.: Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ "David Souter Fast Facts". CNN. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ Barnes, Robert; Shackelford, Lucy (February 12, 2008). "As on Bench, Voting Styles Are Personal". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ "Press Release". Supreme Court of the United States. February 13, 2009. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
- ^ a b "David H. Souter". The New York Times. August 3, 2017. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
- ^ Baker, Peter; Zeleny, Jeff (May 1, 2009). "Souter's Exit to Give Obama First Opening". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2017.