Exiting justice had dry wit, avoided DC social whirl
WASHINGTON -- In 1990, when David Souter was nominated for the Supreme Court and visited Capitol Hill, one of the reporters trailing him asked the little-known New Hampshire judge how it felt to be snatched from obscurity.
"I must say," he responded, "I never thought of myself as that obscure."
The dry-witted Yankee has remained a low-key but crucial player on the nation's highest court. He will retire at the end of the term in June, according to an Associated Press source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for Souter. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg declined to comment.
Souter, an appointee of George H.W. Bush, became a reliable member of the court's liberal wing, voting to uphold abortion rights, urging a high wall of separation between church and state, and consistently endorsing legal protections for Guantanamo detainees.
Yet Souter, 69 and a lifelong bachelor, was never comfortable in the world of Washington and rarely accepted speaking invitations. He preferred to eat a quiet lunch at his desk than to socialize with his colleagues. He has been decidedly old-fashioned, writing his opinions out in longhand rather than on a personal computer, and often works in dimly lit chambers. He once declared to a congressional committee that cameras would be allowed in court only over his "dead body."
University of Pennsylvania law professor Kermit Roosevelt, who was a law clerk to Souter from 1999-2000, said the justice's interest in ideas and history makes him an expert on U.S. law but also causes him to chafe at the ways of Washington.
"I think he has a better understanding than most of the justices (about) how the law evolved and how it adapts to the needs of society," Roosevelt said in an interview. "One of the things people don't understand about Justice Souter is how curious he is. He definitely wanted to learn about the world, but he didn't want to do that through meeting people at formal occasions. … He doesn't like the ceremonial aspects of the job."
