David Souter

David Souter, a former Supreme Court Justice who sat on the bench from 1990 to 2009, died May 8, 2025 at his home in Hopkinton, New Hampshire at the age of 85.

Souter worked in law his entire life, graduating from Harvard Law School and weaving his way through a series of high-profile positions on his way to the Supreme Court of the United States. They include serving as Attorney General of New Hampshire, sitting on the Superior Court of New Hampshire, and serving on the New Hampshire Supreme Court, among others.

Souter rose to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990, appointed by President George H.W. Bush (1924–2018) and confirmed by a 90-9 vote in the Senate. Among those on the short list of contenders was future justice Clarence Thomas. It was assumed Souter would be a staunchly conservative judge, but he proved to live closer to the center. He reaffirmed Roe v. Wade but narrowed its scope, voted against allowing prayer in schools, and supported workers rights, among other such votes. By the end of his time on the bench, many considered him on the liberal side of the court.

Souter retired after President Barack Obama took office, opening the way for Sonia Sotomayor's appointment. He maintained a low profile after retirement, sitting on panels for the First Circuit Court of Appeals but otherwise divesting himself of public life.

"David Souter is perhaps the most underrated, underappreciated Justice in modern US history," law professor Jed Shugerman said on the social media platform X. "A incremental non-ideological moderate who cared sincerely about precedent and historical evidence. He wrote carefully & modestly, more light than heat. Rest in prudence."

By Eric San Juan

(Image: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)