Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on May 1, 2009

By Vicki McClure Davidson * Frugal Café Blog Zone

Supreme Court Justice David Souter, on the cover of Time magazine, August 1990

Souter has served more than 18 years on the court, and his voting record has usually been that of a liberal. His retirement will open the first seat in 15 years for a Democrat president to fill.

It’s unlikely that Souter’s replacement will change the current dynamics of the court.

A brief bio on Souter from Wikipedia:

…President George H. W. Bush originally wanted to appoint Clarence Thomas to Brennan’s [vacated] seat, but ultimately decided that Thomas had not yet had enough experience as a federal judge and decided to recommend Souter for the post instead.

Bush nominated Souter as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on July 25, 1990, and Souter took his seat on October 9, 1990, shortly after the United States Senate confirmed him by a vote of 90-9 after the Senate Judiciary Committee reported out the nomination by a vote of 14-3.

The nine senators voting against Souter included Ted Kennedy and John Kerry from Souter’s neighboring state of Massachusetts. These senators, along with seven others, painted Souter as a right-winger in the mold of Robert Bork. They based their claim on the fact that Souter had friendships with many conservative politicians in New Hampshire.

Their allegations failed to influence the other 90 senators due to the fact that the press called him the “stealth justice” and showed that his professional record provoked little real controversy and provided very little paper trail. Lack of a paper trail was seen by President Bush as a positive for Souter, because one of President Reagan’s nominees, Bork, had recently been rejected by the Senate due in part to the availability of his extensive written opinions on issues. Bush claimed that he didn’t know Souter’s stances on abortion, affirmative action, or other issues.

The National Organization for Women opposed Souter’s nomination and held a rally outside the hearings to oppose his selection. The then-president of NOW, Molly Yard, testified that Souter would “end… freedom for women in this country.” Souter was also opposed by the NAACP, which urged its 500,000 members to write letters to their Senators asking for Souter’s defeat. Despite this opposition and largely due to his lack of a paper trail, Souter won an easy confirmation compared to later Republican appointees.

[...]

At the time of Souter’s appointment, John Sununu assured President Bush and conservatives that Souter would be a “home run” for conservatism. In his testimony before the Senate, Souter espoused the concepts of originalism (as Bork had) and was thus thought by conservatives to be a strict constructionist on Constitutional matters. However, as a state’s attorney and state Supreme Court judge, he had never been tested on matters of federal law.

Initially, from 1990 to 1993, Souter tended to be a conservative-leaning Justice, although not as conservative as Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, or William Rehnquist. In Souter’s first year, Souter and Scalia voted alike close to 85 percent of the time; Souter voted with Kennedy and O’Connor about 97 percent of the time.

The symbolic turning point came in two cases in 1992, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in which the Court reaffirmed the essential holding in Roe v. Wade, and Lee v. Weisman, in which Souter voted against allowing prayer at a high school graduation ceremony. In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Anthony Kennedy considered overturning Roe and upholding all the restrictions at issue in Casey. Souter considered upholding all the restrictions but still was uneasy about overturning Roe. After consulting with O’Connor, however, the three (who came to be known as the “troika”) developed a joint opinion that upheld all the restrictions in the Casey case except for the mandatory notification of a husband while asserting the essential holding of Roe, that a right to an abortion is protected by the Constitution.

Additional reading:

Hot Air: Sessions for Specter on Judiciary and Specter Defection Will Haunt Dems On Souter Replacement
Gateway Pundit: Liberal Supreme Court Justice David Souter to Retire… Update: Failed Michigan Governor Mentioned As Replacement
Another Black Conservative: Quick thoughts on Souter
Politico: Orrin Hatch: White House may announce Supreme Court nominee this week
Michelle Malkin: Souter to retire
DaTechguy’s Blog: Another indirect proof
Nice Deb: 2006 Video: Obama On Supreme Court Nominees
Stop the ACLU: Souter Out – Who Will Obama Pick?
Peace and Freedom Promises: Obama’s First Supreme Court Nomination

Categories: Conservatism, Government, Law & Constitution, Social and Political Climate
Tags: conservative, David Souter, Democrat, George H. W. Bush, justice, Justice Souter, liberal, Obama nomination, retire, SCOTUS, Supreme Court