WASHINGTON — Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice David Souter, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush who became a reliable liberal vote over the course of his nearly 20 years on the bench, has died. He was 85.
The New Hampshire resident “died peacefully yesterday at home,” the Supreme Court noted in a Friday press release.
“Justice David Souter served our Court with great distinction for nearly twenty years. He brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service,” said Chief Justice John Roberts in a statement.
“After retiring to his beloved New Hampshire in 2009, he continued to render significant service to our branch by sitting regularly on the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit for more than a decade. He will be greatly missed.”
Souter was confirmed to the high court in 1990 and went on to side with the liberal bloc on issues including abortion, freedom of religion and expression — as well as the disputed 2000 election.
He served under both Roberts and former Chief Justice William Rehnquist, holding out on retiring until Barack Obama won the presidency, allowing the Democrat to fill his vacancy with liberal judge Sonia Sotomayor.
Souter was born Sept. 17, 1939 in Melrose, Mass., and studied at Harvard College, where he received his A.B., and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar and received an M.A.
From there, he continued his education at Harvard Law School, started with civil trial work at the law firm Orr and Reno in Concord, NH, and went on to work as a prosecutor and later New Hampshire attorney general.
The transition to the judiciary came in 1978, when Souter was tapped to be an associate justice on the New Hampshire Superior Court — and later the state’s Supreme Court in 1983.
He joined the Boston-based US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit shortly before ascending to the Supreme Court.
Once named by The Washington Post as one of the 10 “most eligible” bachelors in DC, Souter rarely traveled, gave few public speeches and rented a small apartment near the Supreme Court with austere furnishings.
The justice also retired a rich man after having held stock in a Vermont-based financial services firm that took off following several mergers, netting him between $5 and $25 million, per disclosure forms.
