By Tom Jarvis
Justice David Hackett Souter, a lifelong public servant who rose from the hills of Weare, New Hampshire, to the bench of the United States Supreme Court, died on May 8 at his home in Hopkinton. He was 85.
Justice Souter’s legacy is marked by intellectual rigor, humility, and an unwavering commitment to the rule of law. Although he served on the highest court in the nation for nearly two decades, he remained deeply rooted in his New Hampshire upbringing and legal community.
“We mourn the loss of Justice David Souter,” says New Hampshire Supreme Court (NHSC) Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald. “The New Hampshire Supreme Court conducts its business in the Souter Conference Room in Concord. There, we are reminded daily of Justice Souter’s deep intellect, his reverence for the law, his love for our state, and perhaps most of all, his humility. Having reached the pinnacle of our profession, Justice Souter always remained grounded in New Hampshire. We will continue to be inspired by David Souter’s remarkable legacy.”
Born in Melrose, Massachusetts, in 1939, Justice Souter moved to New Hampshire with his family at age 11. He graduated from Concord High School in 1957, earned his AB from Harvard College in 1961, and studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, receiving a BA and MA in jurisprudence in 1963. In 1966, he graduated from Harvard Law School.
After a brief stint in private practice at Orr & Reno, he entered public service in the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office in 1968, rising to Deputy Attorney General in 1971 and Attorney General in 1976.
His judicial career began in 1978 as a New Hampshire Superior Court judge, followed by his appointment to the NHSC in 1983. In 1990, he was selected as a judge for the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. That same year, President George H.W. Bush nominated him to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).
Confirmed by a 90–9 vote, Justice Souter joined the nation’s highest court in October 1990. While initially perceived as a conservative, his jurisprudence evolved over time. He notably joined the controlling opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, reaffirming the constitutional right to abortion, and dissented in Bush v. Gore in 2000. In his dissent, Justice Souter argued, “There is no justification for denying the State the opportunity to try to count all disputed ballots now.”
In 1994, Justice Souter wrote the opinion in Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet, stating that power “over public schools belongs to the State and cannot be delegated to a local school district defined by the State in order to grant political control to a religious group.”
In 2005, he joined a 5–4 decision on eminent domain that prompted a proposed, and ultimately rejected, plan to seize his Weare farmhouse in protest.
Retired SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer, who sat on the Supreme Court with Justice Souter for 15 years, says it was a “great privilege” to serve with him.
“He was a great judge,” says Justice Breyer. “He was intelligent. He had a good sense of humor. He was a thoroughly decent person. He thought mostly not of himself but of the people the Constitution will serve. The judges will miss him, the lawyers will miss him, the country will miss him, and I will miss him very much indeed.”
In a SCOTUS press release, Chief Justice John Roberts stated, “Justice David Souter served our Court with great distinction for nearly 20 years. He brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service.”
In 2009, Justice Souter retired from the US Supreme Court, returning to the Granite State full-time. He continued to serve by designation on the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, hearing hundreds of cases between 2010 and 2020. He also worked to improve civics education through curriculum reform efforts.
“Our court was graced with Justice Souter’s inimitable and wise presence for more than a decade,” First Circuit Chief Judge David Barron said in a statement. “His depth of commitment to the rule of law, his reverence for the Constitution, his faith in the American legal tradition, and his deep respect for the profession of law had a profound influence on all of us who had the privilege of sitting with him.”
First Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch, who sat with Justice Souter many times, remarked in a press release that he “embodied the best of his beloved Granite State.”
“David was rock solid in his brilliance, tempered in all things, modest and private, kind and polite, had a way with words, and was gifted with a keen wit,” she said. “He was a great justice, embodying qualities, to be emulated, of integrity, honesty, intellectual and moral rigor, judicial restraint, and adherence to the US Constitution. David was such a pleasure to be with – he was so very well read and educated, and his conversations sparkled with apt stories from history.”
Though reserved by nature, Justice Souter left a deep personal impact on those who worked with him. California attorney Mathew Rosengart, who clerked for him on the NHSC and remained a close friend, describes him as “the best person I’ve ever met or known… he was remarkably kind and personable, to everyone, in an almost otherworldly way.”
“He truly treated everyone the same,” says Rosengart, recalling how Souter would stop mid-hike to warmly chat with anyone who recognized him, no matter the setting. “It was one of his gifts – a natural and absolutely immeasurable kindness and decency…Only those privileged enough to really know him understood how charming and what a great raconteur he was. He was my first boss, and I loved him dearly.”
Jim Readey, another former NHSC clerk to Justice Souter and friend of 30 years, recalls his quiet generosity. On his first day at the court, Readey says, “Before he left the office, he poked his head back in the door and said, ‘Oh, by the way, I know the State delays payment. It may take four weeks before you get your first check. So if you guys need any money, just let me know, and I’ll write you a check. If you need cash, I’ll give you cash.’ I don’t know what kind of boss does that.”
Readey says Justice Souter “always cared about people as people. He didn’t see them as just his staff – it was one of the reasons why it was so easy for me to become a lifelong friend of his.”
Recalling an instance that “cemented our friendship,” Readey describes helping Justice Souter move to Washington after his Supreme Court appointment. True to his frugal New England roots, Readey says, Justice Souter insisted on renting a truck and moving his furniture himself – no movers, no fuss.
“We were loading the truck past midnight,” Readey says. “Not once did he say, ‘I should have hired someone.’ That was just David.”
Justice Souter never married and largely avoided the limelight of Washington, often returning to New Hampshire as soon as the Court’s term ended. According to those close to him, he was an avid hiker, a student of history, and a noted storyteller who valued deep friendships and a simple life.
Justice Souter’s legacy endures not only in the decisions he helped shape but in the deep, enduring respect of his peers, his clerks, and the people of New Hampshire.
In the end, perhaps Justice Souter’s own words best capture his approach to the law and public service. During his 1990 Senate confirmation hearing, he reflected:
“The first lesson, simple as it is, is that whatever court we are in, whatever we are doing, whether we are on a trial court or an appellate court, at the end of our task some human being is going to be affected. Some human life is going to be changed in some way by what we do, whether we do it as trial judges or whether we do it as appellate judges, as far removed from the trial arena as it is possible to be. The second lesson that I learned in that time is that if, indeed, we are going to be trial judges, whose rulings will affect the lives of other people and who are going to change their lives by what we do, we had better use every power of our minds and our hearts and our beings to get those rulings right.”