Republican Justice David H. Souter, who is a coalition of court liberals, died in 85
His mood gradually improved, but the court's 2006-2007 term brought another low, when Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. in a relatively small case, Bowles v. Russell, 5-4 majority ruled that even before a federal judge mistakenly gave him the deadline, the prisoner's appeal was too late, even if it was safe. Judge Souter's objection, representing his usual allies, seemed to be addressing a wider and deeper problem than the one raised in this case. “The judicial system treats people in this way is unbearable,” he said.
Over the years, he told friends that he wanted to retire but did not want to fill another vacancy for President Bush. A few months after the inauguration of the new president, he sent a retirement letter to President Obama on May 1, 2009.
As a retired justice, he sat with his old court (the First Circuit in Boston) for several weeks each year. He left Chambers there, in Concord, New Hampshire, where he participated in life in New Hampshire and served on the state committee to improve civic education, which was the reason his colleague, Judge O'Connor, was recruited, who retired three years after his retirement. But he undoubtedly articulates his desire for privacy by publishing a paper to the New Hampshire Historical Society and stipulates that they lasted for 50 years after his death.
When he received his honorary degree from Harvard University from his alma mater, his speech was sober and clearly heartfelt. He said the Constitution embodies not only an idea, but also a “pantheon of value” and that “all the Constitution is waiting for the judge to read its concept.” This explanatory approach, he said, “reduces us.”
There are no direct survivors. Justice Suth's father died in 1976. His mother shared his home with him for many years, and later he visited regularly at his retirement residence in Concord, living long enough to see her only child reach the heights of a legal career. She died in 1995 at the age of 87.
After retirement, Justice Suth sold the family farmhouse and moved to a large town house in Concord. The reason, he explained, is that his collection of large books, the old farmhouses cannot be held or supported structurally. Reading history is still a precious pastime. He once explained: “History provides an antidote to cynicism in the past.”
