David Souter (1939- )

David Souter was born in Melrose, Massachusetts on September 17, 1939. After graduating from Harvard University in 1961, Souter spent two years in England as a Rhodes Scholar, obtaining a second bachelor's degree from Oxford, which later became a master's degree. He then returned to Harvard to attend its law school, graduating in 1966. After two years in private practice in New Hampshire, Souter became a New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General. He remained in the Attorney General's office for the next ten years, including as Attorney General for the State of New Hampshire during his final two years there. In 1978, Souter was appointed a New Hampshire superior court judge, where he remained for five years. He then spent seven years as a justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. In 1990, Souter was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. That same year, after the retirement of Justice William Brennan, Souter was nominated to the Supreme Court. After the tremendous fight involving President Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork in 1987, then-President George Bush sought a conservative nominee who would not cause the same kind of political firestorm. This led some to denounce Souter as a "stealth" candidate. Souter's candidacy was successful in part because there was little paper trail linking him to controversial issues.

In his early years, Souter was a slow writer who usually agreed with Chief Justice William Rehnquist. In the last 7-10 years, Souter has become much more inclined to disagree with Rehnquist. In church-state cases, for example, Souter is strongly inclined to a "separationist" interpretation of the establishment clause. He strongly supports the right to privacy as enunciated in Roe v. Wade (1973). He strongly disagrees with the Court's recent decisions declaring unconstitutional federal laws as beyond the commerce clause power of the Congress, and with the Court's takings jurisprudence. His jurisprudential journey is suggestive of that of Harry Blackmun, who first joined, then distanced himself from, the decisions of his "Minnesota Twin," Chief Justice Warren Burger.

Souter is a lifelong bachelor who returns to New Hampshire after the end of the Court's Term.