David Souter

Vocation

Traits

Family

American Supreme Court jurist who emphasizes judicial restraint, nominated by President George Bush. Respected by his colleagues for intellectual prowess and strong opinions and noted for modesty, out of 106 jurists who have served on the Supreme Court, he is the sixth who has remained unmarried. With his appointment, he became Washington's leading bachelor. Souter was the only child of a bank loan officer and his wife. He was an excellent student, voted Most Likely to Succeed in his high school, and went on to major in philosophy at Harvard, where he wrote his senior thesis on Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. A Rhodes scholar, he returned to Harvard Law School where he graduated in 1966. He practiced law for two years at a leading Concord firm, then moved to the office of then-state Attorney General Warren Rudman. He succeeded Rudman in 1976. After two years as New Hampshire's chief law officer, Souter was appointed a state judge by the new governor and five years later, named to the State Supreme Court. In April 1990, Souter was selected for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the court at the level just below the Supreme Court. He had held the job a month when President George Bush tapped him to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by retiring Justice William Brennan Jr. The nomination was announced 7/23/1990, at 5:04:36 PM, EDT, Washington, D. C. He was low-key and courteous during preliminary confirmation hearings, skillfully side-stepping the volatile issues such as abortion. The Senate approved the nomination 90-9. Though considered reserved and shy, he is also said to be an excellent conversationalist and a good listener. An intelligent, shy and decent man who likes old cars, black and white TV and the Boston Red Sox, he greatly respects the Court's traditions. . He has ruled with the majority on decisions that include opinions holding organized prayer at a public school graduation to be unconstitutional; an anti-homosexual provision in the Colorado constitution; and term limits for state and federal representatives. Link to Wikipedia biography