Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter Dead at 85

MARY!

JESUS!

and JOSEPH!

So....gay, right?

Why no Cheeto Satan? The prayers, they no working.

Who was his bf?

At least he retired, unlike the other dopes on there.

[quote] At least he retired, unlike the other dopes on there.

And that was too bad. The man had some integrity.

He was furious over the Court's decision to stay the recount (not allow it) in Florida that gave Bush the win over Gore in the 2000 election. He stepped down shortly after that, denouncing the politicalization of the Supreme Court. He supported Roe vs Wade.

Clarence Thomas, it should've been you instead.

I worked with someone who interned with him. She said she once spent time chasing after ping pong balls he was dropping from a stairway. He was doing it to understand something about the way the balls moved that was pertinent to a case that had come before the court.

It was so different from what I would imagine people do when they work as Supreme Court interns, let alone how I imagine a Justice of the Court would behave, that I’ve never forgotten it and always kinda liked him because of it.

Souter was a great justice and an ever better man.

He loved hiking, reading (particularly Proust and Dickens), and classical music. He loved his home state of New Hampshire even more.

But his law clerks all adored him. After the difficult 2000-2001 term, several of his law clerks were goofing off and built a human pyramid in the court yard. Souter just happened to be walking by and caught them in the act. After they built the pyramid, they realized they did not have a camera. Souter rushed to his office, and took a photo.

He made copies for the clerks and framed that photo in his office.

At least Scalia's still dead.

Somebody needs to take Clarence Thomas on a hunting trip.

My brother knew him fairly well -- they had dinner several times a year. Said that Souter was one of the most interesting and intelligent guys he ever met; bookish, truly curious about the world, with an almost surreal love of justice and fairness. The one thing that my brother couldn't figure out -- whether or not he was gay.

Why is that fat 🐖 Clarence Thomas still with us?

Time for 'ol Clare to swim with the fishes! Like me!

Justice Souter had a jurisprudential mindset that compelled him to write a 32-page opinion-

as a dissent.

I would know because read it.

He was extraordinary, too good for the US Supreme Court.

[quote] Souter was a great justice and an ever better man.

Was he great and good independent of his views, or do people actually use a justice’s views as the measure and then label them great and good if the people agree with the views?

And yet J. Clarence Thomas still walks among us.

[quote] Was he great and good independent of his views

Yes, Rose. He had a great ass but he couldn't live forever.

Someone mistook him for Justice Breyer and asked, “ Justice Breyer, what’s the best thing about serving on the Supreme Court?” David replied, “Serving with Justice Souter!”

He believed in stare decisis (to uphold precedent) and be a true judicial conservative, much like John Marshall Harlan II. Believing in stare decisis means that sometimes you rule with "liberal" justices and other times you rule with "conservative" justice. Elena Kagan is the closest to that now.

Souter was not some DC partisan hack. In fact, he hated DC. He referred to being a Supreme Court Justice as "the world's best job in the world's worst city."

His life was being a Justice. When not working, he ran 6 miles at Fort McNair, read, hiked, and listened to classical music. He hated DC and the obvious politization of everything.

Sandra Day O'Connor set him up on a date with a woman once. The lady reported back that Souter was a complete gentleman, kind, smart, and a good listener, except at the end of the date he said "this was a lot of fun, we should do this again next year."

One Thanksgiving Ruth Bader Ginsburg invited him over to her home for dinner. He said was going up to New Hampshire to visit his mother. He told his mother that "Ruthie" (his nickname for RGB) invited him over for Thanksgiving dinner.

Months later he confessed to the women and said "sorry, but I'm a social minimalist."

R14 "bookish bachelor" is the phrase used in the CNBC story I just read, so apparently that adjective fits.

When I read that, I immediately thought of DL and the question "Who's had him?" rang in my ears. 🤣

Declining a reporter’s invitation to the glamorous White House Correspondents’ Association dinner one year, Souter wrote, “Whatever gene it takes to savor those sorts of dinners was left out of my double helix.”

He retired at the age of 69, at a time when he was still viewed as one of the court’s sharpest, most thoughtful questioners.

“A couple of weeks later I drove north from Washington with no regrets about the prior 19 years or about the decision to try living a more normal life for whatever time might remain,” the Souter wrote in a Harvard report marking the 50th reunion of his class.

This is a nice biographical article from when he was appointed on Court in 1990.

Clarence will have to be vanquished by the Power of Three.

Not Souter! Oh no!

Confirmed bachelor

I'm also a confirmed bachelor!

But Samuel Alito still lives!!!

Another point in his favor. Although nominated by a Republican president, he deferred his (early) retirement until after a Democratic president (Obama) was in office.

He was a really witty guy