Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, who was nominated to the court by GOP President George H. W. Bush in 1990, then sided with leftist judges in some critical cases, died at his home in New Hampshire on Thursday. He was 85.
Souter, a lifelong bachelor, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in England and graduated from Harvard Law School before eventually becoming Attorney General of New Hampshire.
“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.”
Although he…
