Changes

|name=David Souter

|name=David Souter

|image=DavidS.jpg

|image=DavidS.jpg

|party=

|party=[[Republican]]

|spouse=

|spouse=(none)

|religion=Episcopalian

|religion=[[Episcopalian]]

|offices=

|offices=

{{Officeholder/Supreme Court Justice

{{Officeholder/Supreme Court Justice

|role=Associate

|role=Associate

|nominator=[[George H. W. Bush]]

|nominator=[[George H. W. Bush]]

|terms=October 9, 1990-June 29, 2009

|terms=October 9, 1990 – June 29, 2009

|preceded=[[William Brennan]]

|preceded=[[William Brennan]]

|former=n

|former=y

|succeeded=[[Sonia Sotomayor]]

|succeeded=[[Sonia Sotomayor]]

}}

}}

}}

}}

The Honorable '''David H. Souter''' is an [[Associate Justice]] of the [[U.S. Supreme Court]]. On May 1, 2009, he sent his official notice of resignation to President [[Barack Hussein Obama]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Scribd|url=http://www.scribd.com/doc/14839021/Souters-Letter|format=html/pdf|language=English|date=May 1 2009|accessdate=May 2 2009|author=Justice David Souter|work=The Supreme Court of the United States|title=Souter's Letter}}</ref>  He has reportedly wanted to resign since the 2000 election, but apparently delayed his retirement.<ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-souter-cases2-2009may02,0,5579976.story</ref>

 

'''David Hackett Souter''' was an [[Associate Justice]] of the [[U.S. Supreme Court]]. On May 1, 2009, he sent his official notice of resignation to President [[Barack Hussein Obama]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Scribd|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/14839021/Souters-Letter|language=English|date=May 1, 2009|accessdate=May 2, 2009|author=Justice David Souter|work=The Supreme Court of the United States|title=Souter's Letter}}</ref>  He has reportedly wanted to resign ever since the 2000 election, but apparently delayed his retirement.<ref>https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-souter-cases2-2009may02,0,5579976.story</ref>  Incredibly, he prohibited releasing his papers until 50 years after his death, as though anyone would have any interest about him so far into the distant future - "That's a lengthier seal than any justice has placed on papers in recent memory."<ref>https://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/08/souter-blocks-access-to-his-papers-for-50-years.html</ref>

Souter was nominated for the [[Supreme Court]] in 1990 by President [[George H. W. Bush]] to succeed retiring Associate Justice [[William Brennan|William J. Brennan]], often known as one of the Court's two most liberal members (the other being Associate Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]], who would retire the following year). Thus, this vacancy represented a chance for President Bush to shift the Court to the right, as his predecessor, [[Ronald Reagan]], had tried to do. In nominating Souter, Bush had adopted what has come to be known as the "stealth strategy." Souter had a very small "paper trail," thus making him difficult to label as a conservative or a liberal. Some [[conservatives]] advising President Bush failed to realize that a stealth candidate may not withstand the intense pressure of the [[liberal]] media after confirmation, a mistake that may have been repeated in the ill-fated nomination of [[Harriet Miers]] about 15 years later.  

Souter was nominated for the [[Supreme Court]] in 1990 by President [[George H. W. Bush]] to succeed retiring Associate Justice [[William Brennan|William J. Brennan]], often known as one of the Court's two most liberal members (the other being Associate Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]], who would retire the following year). Thus, this vacancy represented a chance for President Bush to shift the Court to the right, as his predecessor, [[Ronald Reagan]], had tried to do. In nominating Souter, Bush had adopted what has come to be known as the "stealth strategy." Souter had a very small "paper trail," thus making him difficult to label as a conservative or a liberal. Some [[conservatives]] advising President Bush failed to realize that a stealth candidate may not withstand the intense pressure of the [[liberal]] media after confirmation, a mistake that may have been repeated in the ill-fated nomination of [[Harriet Miers]] about 15 years later.  

Bush had received assurances that Souter would be a conservative from his Chief of Staff, [[John Sununu]], who had appointed Souter to the [[New Hampshire]] Supreme Court years earlier. Thus, Bush hoped to disarm liberal Senators who might oppose an obviously [[conservative]] nominee, as they had done just three years earlier with [[Robert Bork]]. But almost immediately it was apparent to some [[conservatives]] that Souter was not pro-life, as he had served as a director on a hospital that performed [[abortions]]. [[Liberals]] seemed to know that they had won. Even though he was grilled to define his view on abortion, Souter didn't take the bait and he was confirmed by a vote of 90-9 by the [[U.S. Senate]], with several [[conservatives]] voting against him.  

Bush had received assurances that Souter would be a conservative from his Chief of Staff, [[John Sununu]], who had appointed Souter to the [[New Hampshire]] Supreme Court years earlier. Thus, Bush hoped to disarm liberal Senators who might oppose an obviously [[conservative]] nominee, as they had done just three years earlier with [[Robert Bork]]. But almost immediately it was apparent to some [[conservatives]] that Souter was not pro-life, as he had served as a director on a hospital that performed [[abortions]]. [[Liberals]] seemed to know that they had won. Even though he was grilled to define his view on abortion, Souter didn't take the bait and he was confirmed by a vote of 90-9 by the [[U.S. Senate]], with all votes against him being [[Democrats]].

Souter went on to align himself firmly with the more liberal bloc on the Court, leading to [[conservative]] anger at President Bush for this calculated blunder. Souter's style is noticeably non-legal, as when he opened one opinion with an unusually non-legal description of "[[mens rea]]":<ref>''Clark v. Arizona'', 126 S. Ct. 2709, 2716 (2006) (emphasis added).</ref>

Souter went on to align himself firmly with the more liberal bloc on the Court, leading to [[conservative]] anger at President Bush for this calculated blunder. Souter's style is noticeably non-legal, as when he opened one opinion with an unusually non-legal description of "[[mens rea]]":<ref>''Clark v. Arizona'', 126 S. Ct. 2709, 2716 (2006) (emphasis added).</ref>

June 10: Tony Mauro, a leading syndicated legal analyst, wrote that "Even as analysts begin picking apart his voting record to analyze what Souter has done, he is also under attack for what he hasn't done: write. Souter is undeniably slow at the business of opinion-writing. With only three opinions to show for his labor thus far, it appears that he has produced less than any other freshman justice in the last 20 years. By this point in their freshman terms, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy had all written opinions and dissents numbering in the two digits. Souter hasn't yet penned a dissent, and the majority opinions he has written have been in low-profile, low-controversy cases. Whispers of his inability to decide and his perfectionist approach to writing circulate at the court. Indeed, decisions written by others -- including the abortion-counseling case Rust v. Sullivan, No. 89-1391 -- are scrutinized for signs of late additions made to push Souter off the fence. 'A black hole, from which nothing emerges,' is the artful phrase Linda Greenhouse of The New York Times used to describe Souter’s chambers. 'Slow off the mark,' said a Newsweek gossip item that quotes anonymous clerk's as blaming Souter for the court's slow pace."

June 10: Tony Mauro, a leading syndicated legal analyst, wrote that "Even as analysts begin picking apart his voting record to analyze what Souter has done, he is also under attack for what he hasn't done: write. Souter is undeniably slow at the business of opinion-writing. With only three opinions to show for his labor thus far, it appears that he has produced less than any other freshman justice in the last 20 years. By this point in their freshman terms, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy had all written opinions and dissents numbering in the two digits. Souter hasn't yet penned a dissent, and the majority opinions he has written have been in low-profile, low-controversy cases. Whispers of his inability to decide and his perfectionist approach to writing circulate at the court. Indeed, decisions written by others -- including the abortion-counseling case Rust v. Sullivan, No. 89-1391 -- are scrutinized for signs of late additions made to push Souter off the fence. 'A black hole, from which nothing emerges,' is the artful phrase Linda Greenhouse of The New York Times used to describe Souter’s chambers. 'Slow off the mark,' said a Newsweek gossip item that quotes anonymous clerk's as blaming Souter for the court's slow pace."

June 29, 1992:  Souter provides the pivotal fifth vote for abortion in [[Planned Parenthood v. Casey]]. This decision has been used to invalidate numerous state laws concerning abortion ever since.

June 29, 1992:  Souter provides the pivotal fifth vote for abortion in ''[[Planned Parenthood v. Casey]]''. This decision has been used to invalidate numerous state laws concerning abortion ever since.

Justice Souter's delays in issuing decisions continued. Justice Souter's unremarkable and uncontroversial opinion on a relatively simple issue of the  insanity defense detained the court until June 29, 2006, when the court would otherwise prefer already to be on its summer break, in ''Clark v. Arizona'', 126 S. Ct. 2709 (2006).

Justice Souter's delays in issuing decisions continued. Justice Souter's unremarkable and uncontroversial opinion on a relatively simple issue of the  insanity defense detained the court until June 29, 2006, when the court would otherwise prefer already to be on its summer break, in ''Clark v. Arizona'', 126 S. Ct. 2709 (2006).

Yet after Justice Souter switched to the liberal side in 1992, as described above, no (liberal) newspaper referred again to him as a "black hole."  Then, after he announced his retirement in spring 2009, liberal journalists switched back to disrespectful criticism again.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/us/08court.html?_r=1&emc=eta1</ref>

Yet after Justice Souter switched to the liberal side in 1992, as described above, no (liberal) newspaper referred again to him as a "black hole."  Then, after he announced his retirement in spring 2009, liberal journalists switched back to disrespectful criticism again.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/us/08court.html?_r=1&emc=eta1</ref>

 

== References ==

==References==

{{RobertsCourt}}

{{Supreme Court|rehnquist=y|roberts=y}}

{{DEFAULTSORT: Souter, David}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Souter, David}}

[[category:United States Supreme Court Justices]]

[[Category:RINOs]]

[[Category:United States Supreme Court Justices]]

[[Category:Homosexual Agenda]]