Litigation

Justice Souter Departs The Supreme Court

By Angel L. Reyes, III

By any measure, Justice David Souter was an anomaly. Appointed by George H. W. Bush to the Supreme Court, ever since, conservative Republicans have cried "No more Souters."
 
Surprisingly, Justice Souter spent 19 years as a Supreme Court Justice and, to the consternation of right wing Republicans, often voted his conscience. It just so happens that his conscience and mine are not so far apart.
 
In 2003, Justice Souter provided the critical 5th vote upholding the University of Michigan's affirmative action plan, my alma mater, thank goodness.
 
In 1992, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, he voted to uphold the court's ruling in Roe v. Wade. Whoa. That is not what a Republican appointee is supposed to do.  Indeed, Souter was a heretic of the Republican Party after that vote!

Well, goodbye Justice Souter.  May your days in New Hampshire treat you well.
 
You see, not all Republicans are bad people. We're all Americans and that is what makes this country great.
 
See full op-ed NY Times article below.

Justice Souter Departs
New York Times 5/2/09 - Editorial

When President George H. W. Bush nominated him to the Supreme Court in 1990, David Souter was an obscure New Hampshire judge with a thin paper trail, hard to figure out, and supporters of civil liberties, civil rights and abortion rights worried that he was being put on the court to do damage to their causes.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said Judge Souter had failed to show 'abiding commitment' to 'core constitutional values.' He and other liberal senators voted against confirmation.

How wrong Senator Kennedy, and almost everyone else, was. Abiding commitment to core constitutional values is precisely what Justice Souter — who has decided to retire — has demonstrated in his 18 years on the court. To the relief of liberals and the dismay of conservatives — who have made 'No More Souters!' a judicial-nomination rallying cry — Justice Souter turned out to be nothing like what anyone expected.

The first opinion he wrote overturned, for a unanimous court, the conviction of a black man for killing a white woman, because the defendant had not been given ample opportunity to challenge the makeup of the nearly all-white Georgia jury. Justice Souter went on to become a reliable champion of civil rights. In 2003, he provided a critical fifth vote upholding the University of Michigan's affirmative action program.

He has also been a firm supporter of the constitutional right to abortion. In 1992, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, he voted to uphold the court's embattled ruling in Roe v. Wade.

After Sept. 11, Justice Souter backed the due-process rights of the prisoners being held in Guantánamo Bay. He has voted in favor of gay rights, and carefully tended the line between church and state.

One of Justice Souter's finest moments came in Bush v. Gore. He did not look at the case through the prism of his Republican politics, or of personal loyalty; one of the parties was, after all, the son of the man who put him on the court. Instead, he rightly insisted — in dissent, of course — that Florida should be allowed to continue counting votes.

Before he decided to step down at the end of this term, Justice Souter often spoke, with evident sincerity, of missing his simpler life in New Hampshire. He may simply have been waiting for a like-minded president whom he would feel comfortable seeing fill his seat.

Furious speculation has already begun over who will do that. President Obama, a onetime professor of constitutional law, will bring considerable legal knowledge and insight to the choice. One of the best guideposts he could use is to look for someone who has demonstrated the same character, intellectual rigor and commitment to core constitutional values as the man giving up the seat.

©2009 Angel Reyes
www.ReyesLaw.com

Full post as published by Angel Reyes Blog on May 04, 2009 (boomark / email).