The Supreme Court announced Friday that former Supreme Court Justice David Souter has died at the age of 85.
According to CNN, Justice Souter retired in 2009 after he was appointed by former President George H.W. Bush in 1990 after advisers said that Souter would help lean the Supreme Court to the right. However, Souter consistently backed up his liberal colleagues.
The Supreme Court announced that Souter passed away peacefully at his New Hampshire home on Thursday, though the cause of death was not revealed.
“Justice David Souter served our court with great distinction for nearly twenty years,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement. “He brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service.”
Conservatives soon regretted Souter’s nomination. In under two years on the bench, he played a key role in a pivotal ruling that reaffirmed Roe v. Wade’s core principle—that the Constitution implicitly protects the right to abortion. In 2022, the court finally overturned Roe.
Souter further sided with liberals in cases that dealt with civil rights, affirmative action and voting.
Souter’s tenure sparked the conservative rallying cry, “No More Souters,” prompting stricter ideological scrutiny in the nomination process. Since then, nominees from both parties— including current justices — have become less likely to sway from the views of the party that appointed them.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that she was “deeply saddened” to hear of Souter’s passing.
“I am deeply saddened to hear that Justice David Souter has passed away,” Bondi said. “He was a brilliant man who devoted his life to public service and our courts. I am praying for his family.”
According to the Daily Wire, the Washington Post wrote that conservatives who hoped Souter would help push conservative values, were left wanting.
“Bush’s chief of staff assured Republicans that the pick would be a ‘home run for conservatives’ who were on the brink of a significant remaking of the court. But the nominee proved to be anything but,” The Washington Post noted. “In nearly two decades on the court, Justice Souter was a reliable vote for the liberal side of the bench in cases involving affirmative action, gay rights, separation of church and state, and restriction of the death penalty.”
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