Justice David H. Souter's Farewell: "Consider That Ye May Be Wrong"

David Hackett Souter, Associate Justice, was born in Melrose, Massachusetts,September 17, 1939. He was graduated from Harvard College, from which he received his A.B. After two years as a Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, he received an A.B. in Jurisprudence from Oxford University and an M.A. in 1989. After receivingan LL.B. from Harvard Law School, he was an associate at Orr and Reno in Concord,New Hampshire from 1966 to 1968, when he became an Assistant Attorney General of New Hampshire. In 1971, he became Deputy Attorney General and in 1976, Attorney General of New Hampshire. In 1978, he was named an Associate Justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire, and was appointed to the Supreme Court of New Hampshire as an Associate Justice in 1983. He became a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on May 25, 1990. President George H. W. Bush nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat October 9, 1990.

Justice David Souter's badge of honor is the hatred and calumny directed his way by the Dumbos who are outraged that their assumptions about this New Hampshireman were all wrong. One Souter is worth one-hundred Borks. If this is (fair & balanced) jurisprudence, so be it.

[x AP]
Text of Justice Souter's retirement letter:
May 1, 2009

Dear Mr. President:

When the Supreme Court rises for the summer recess this year, I intend to retire from regular active service as a Justice, under the provisions of 28 US.C. (section) 371(b)(1), having attained the age and met the service requirements of subsection(c) of that section. I mean to continue to render substantial judicial service as an Associate Justice.

Yours respectfully,

David Souter

Copyright © 2009 Associated Press
________________

[x Law.Com]
Justice Souter's "Habits Of Mind"
By Tony Mauro

Tag Cloud of the following article

academy american appear board civics congress consider conventional court decided decision discussion education ferguson following habit history humanities ignorant includes intellectual joined judicial justice learned leave led life mauro mind necessity night noted period point president problem public randel reading schools separate souter supreme term thinks university view wisdom work

created at TagCrowd.com

Robert Bork once said serving on the Supreme Court would be "an intellectual feast." On Monday night, by contrast, Justice David Souter said he undergoes a "sort of annual intellectual lobotomy" when the Supreme Court term begins in October, a condition that he said lasts until the end of the term the following summer.

It was an offhand remark by Souter, made in service of a larger point before an audience of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in Washington, DC: that Americans need to develop a "habit of mind" that includes reading books — which, he implied, becomes very hard for him to do during the bustle of a Supreme Court term. "I cram what I can into the summertime," Souter said.

Without making too much of it, Souter's comment opened an interesting window into his thinking about his job — and why conventional wisdom has it that he is considering leaving the Court soon to repair to his New Hampshire home. If he thinks of his work on the Court, even sarcastically, as a nine-month-long, brain-evacuating experience, it is easier to see why he would want to leave it behind &3151; if nothing else, to catch up on his reading.

It was a rare public outing for the reclusive justice, but he was at ease, and among friends; he has been a fellow of the academy since 1997. (View the full discussion at this C-SPAN site.) Souter spoke on a panel discussing the role of humanities in civic life, with a special focus on how to make the case for humanities education and for the importance of humanities in general in the current economic and political climate. Souter was joined by Patty Stonesifer, chair of the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents, Don Randel, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Edward Ayers, president of the University of Richmond, with Leslie Berlowitz, CEO of the American Academy moderating.

Souter made a strong pitch for the necessity of learning history, in part as "an antidote to cynicism about the past." As an example, he discussed how differently the justices who decided Plessy v. Ferguson (in favor of racially separate facilities) viewed segregation from those who decided Brown v. Board of Education against separate but equal schools. Only by learning the historical context of both decisions, Souter said, can the Plessy decision be understood.

During a question-and-answer period, Souter was expansive with advice, though he cautioned against following it. As he was about to suggest ways to advocate for humanities before Congress, Souter noted that he has long been on the "judicial salary committee" urging raises for judges, without any success. "Whatever I tell you, do the opposite."

Souter said that during a conference on judicial independence at Georgetown University Law Center led by Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephen Breyer two years ago, he learned that the problem was not just that the public is ignorant about how the judiciary works. "The problem is one of pervasive ignorance about government." Taking a civics class when he was a child, Souter said, was "dull as ditch water," but absolutely necessary — and only 50 percent of students today take civics. Souter's point appeared to be that "holding the humanities tin cup" was not a narrow plea but a campaign to improve all branches of education.

That led Souter to his discussion of the need for a "habit of mind" that includes reading, intellectual curiosity and self-doubt. He ended by noting that the late Judge Learned Hand once said these words of Oliver Cromwell, the 17th century British leader, should appear above the entrance of all schools, courthouses and public buildings: "Consider That Ye May Be Wrong."

[Tony Mauro is Supreme Court correspondent for Legal Times, American Lawyer Media and Law.Com. He joined ALM in January 2000 after covering the Supreme Court for USA TODAY and Gannett News Service for the previous 20 years. Mauro is also a legal correspondent for the First Amendment Center. Mauro received a bachelor's degree in political science from Rutgers University, and a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.]

Copyright © 2009. Incisive Media US Properties

Get the Google Reader at no cost from Google. Click on this link to go on a tour of the Google Reader. If you read a lot of blogs, load Reader with your regular sites, then check them all on one page. The Reader's share function lets you publicize your favorite posts.

Copyright © 2009 Sapper's (Fair & Balanced) Rants & Raves