Retired Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter from Weare, New Hampshire has died. He was 85. Souter died Thursday at his home.
Souter was appointed by Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1990. He was a reliably liberal vote on abortion, church-state relations, freedom of expression and the accessibility of federal courts. Souter also dissented from the decision in Bush v. Gore in 2000, which effectively handed the presidency to George W. Bush, the son of the man who put him on the high court.
In retirement, Souter warned that ignorance of how government works could undermine American democracy.
His lifestyle was spare — yogurt and an apple, consumed at his desk, was a typical lunch — and he shunned Washington’s social scene. He couldn’t wait to leave town in early summer. As soon as the court finished its work in late June, he climbed into his Volkswagen Jetta for the drive back to the worn farmhouse where his family moved when he was 11.
Yet for all his reserve, Souter was beloved by colleagues, court employees and friends. He was a noted storyteller and generous with his time.
Bush White House aide John Sununu, the former conservative governor of New Hampshire, hailed his choice as a “home run.” And early in his time in Washington, Souter was called a moderate conservative.
Souter returned to his well-worn house in Weare, New Hampshire, for a few months each summer and was given the use of an office in a Concord courthouse.
An avid hiker, Souter spent much of his time away from work trekking through the New Hampshire mountains.
When Souter in 2005 joined an unpopular 5-4 decision on eminent domain allowing a Connecticut city to take several waterfront homes for a private development, a group angered by the decision tried to use it to evict him from his Weare farmhouse to make way for the “Lost Liberty Hotel.” But Weare residents rejected the proposal.
Shortly after his retirement, Souter bought a 3,500-square-foot Cape Cod-style home in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. It was reported, though perhaps it was just part of Souter’s lore, that he worried that the foundation of the house in Weare would give way under the weight of all the books he owned.
Before serving as a New Hampshire judge, Souter was his state’s attorney general for two years. He worked on the attorney general’s staff the eight previous years, after a brief stint in private practice.
Souter earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University, and a master’s degree from Oxford as a Rhodes scholar Washington, D.C.
