Earlier in the week, it was announced that Justice David Souter advised President Obama that he plans to retire from the Supreme Court this summer. Reportedly, Obama praised Souter and thanked him for his service.
But that was then.
Today, a presidential spokesman says the White House has received no formal word from Supreme Court Justice David Souter about a pending retirement.
The 69 year old Associate Justice has served on the nation’s highest court since 1990. He was appointed to the Court by President George H. W. Bush, when William J. Brennan left the court. Souter has tended to vote with the more liberal justices on the Court, despite the fact that Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry voted against his confirmation, casting him as an extreme conservative. The NAACP and NOW actively campaigned against his confirmation. Nonetheless, Souter was easily confirmed by a largely GOP Senate.
It shocked the GOP, then, when Souter contributed to a 1992 ruling, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in which the Court reaffirmed that a right to an abortion is protected by the Constitution. Souter later cast important votes in death penalty cases and criminal rights cases which were considered to be liberal.
Souter was a good friend to fellow Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a Reagan appointee, who retired from the Court in 2005. Souter considers Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a Clinton appointee, one of his closest colleagues on the Court; Ginsberg’s health issues have raised serious concerns about her stay on the Court.
Considering his age and grueling work schedule (he reportedly works 12 hour days, 7 days a week when Court is in session), as well as the status of his colleagues, there is reason to believe that Souter is considering stepping down. So the question is, will he or won’t he?
Image courtesy of Wikimedia, from the Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States.
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