Who was David Souter? Career highlights explored as Supreme Court Justice passes away at 85

Renowned former Supreme Court Justice David Souter has passed away at the age of 85. The Washington Post reported that Souter passed away in his home in New Hampshire on May 8, 2025.

Souter was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court and was in this position until retirement in 2009. He is remembered as an advocate for abortion rights.

He also surprised his conservative appointees with his affirmative votes on the restriction of the death penalty and gay rights. After he announced his retirement, President Barack Obama commented on his tenure, saying:

"He never sought to promote a political agenda. And he consistently defied labels and rejected absolutes, focusing instead on just one task — reaching a just result in the case that was before him.”

David Souter’s career highlights explored

David Souter was born on September 17, 1939, in Melrose, Massachusetts, to an assistant bank manager father and a store clerk mother. At age 10, his family relocated to Weare, where he completed his high school education.

David Souter attended Harvard University and graduated in 1961 magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jurisprudence from Magdalene College in Oxford in 1963.

He later graduated from Harvard Law School with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1966. He became the assistant attorney general of New Hampshire in 1971; he became the Attorney General in 1976.

By the time he was nominated as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire in 1978, he had amassed years of litigation experience. Scouter’s appointment as a Supreme Court justice by President George Bush came at a time when the Conservatives were working on a legal counterrevolution.

Bush’s chief of staff, John H. Sununu, even reportedly assured Republicans that Souter’s nomination would be a “home run for conservatives.” David Souter, however, turned out to be more liberal in his leanings, choosing to exercise judicial restraint.

He famously wrote an opinion alongside two other colleagues to uphold the decision in Roe v. Wade. He stated that overturning the decision in the classic case would be a:

"Surrender to political pressure. … So to overrule under fire in the absence of the most compelling reason to re-examine a watershed decision would subvert the court’s legitimacy beyond any serious question.”

David Souter retired from the Supreme Court in 2009 and until 2020 regularly sat on panels of the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, Maine, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, and New Hampshire, amongst others.

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