Mob64Last 4; pics 5-8, Souter, Whitburn. Low tide and cambrian limestone outcrops. 18-06-2025 #seascape #Souter #Sunderland #NorthEastEngland #coast
Pics 1-4, Souter, Whitburn. Low tide and cambrian limestone outcrops. 18-06-2025 #seascape #Souter #Sunderland #NorthEastEngland #coast
Nonilex[Not from the NYT article, still my #DavidSouter 🧵]
#Souter planned his retirement from #SCOTUS to occur during a Democratic presidency as he was keenly aware of Republican designs on turning the court into a political arm.
NPR 2009:
Factors in his decision no doubt include the election of President #Obama, who would be more likely to appoint a successor attuned to the principles Souter has followed as a moderate-to-liberal member of the court's more liberal bloc over the past 2 decades.
…the results of the 1993-94 term showed that he & his 3 most regular allies—Blackmun, Stevens & Ginsburg, who had been together in 11 of the year's 14 5-4 cases—had been the losing foursome in 8 of those 11, prevailing only in 3 criminal cases where they were joined by Kennedy. And if one looked at the 35 cases where Blackmun & Rehnquist had come out on opposite sides, perhaps #Souter's "emerging liberal streak" was no exaggeration at all…
Right-wing Court watchers rued Souter's evolution.
#law
Right-wing Court watchers rued Souter's evolution.
#law
But in the following year, as Kennedy reverted to greater agreement w/the Chief Justice, #Souter found himself on the minority side of far more split decisions.
…The 1992-93 decline of the Souter-O'Connor-Kennedy trio led some observers to highlight how Kennedy had moved back rightward, but Paul Barrett of WSJ contended that actually the "most striking development" was Souter's "emerging #liberal streak."
#DavidSouter #SCOTUS #law #judiciary #JudicialIndependence #ethics
…[A] close friend, echoing how Casey "wasn't a surprise," especially given "David's respect for #precedent," stressed that people did not appreciate how "David's a #judicial conservative, NOT a #political conservative.”…
Neither the 1992-93 or 1993-94 terms would prove as significant as 1991-92. The most striking statistic of 1991-92, as Casey exemplified, was the degree to which Anthony Kennedy had shifted away from Rehnquist & toward #Souter & O'Connor.
troy_friz_zellI think it's total bullshit that Souter is being praised as being somehow "left."
Even in the oft-cited Planned Parenthood vs Casey, his decision gutted women's rights to abortion. It upheld Roe in name only. From the wiki: "Souter considered upholding all the restrictions but was uneasy about overturning Roe. After consulting with O'Connor, the three ... developed a joint opinion that *upheld all the restrictions* in Casey except the mandatory notification of a husband "
1/2
Harry Blackmun's concurrence accurately termed the #Souter-O'Connor-Kennedy joint opinion "an act of personal courage & constitutional principle," & Blackmun added that "what has happened today should serve as a model for future Justices & a warning to all who have tried to turn this Court into yet another #political branch."
#DavidSouter #SCOTUS #law #judiciary #JudicialIndependence #ethics
#Souter closed by reiterating that #Casey, & #Roe, were about far more than simply #abortion:
“A decision to overrule Roe's essential holding under the existing circumstances would address error, if error there was,at the cost of both profound & unnecessary damage to the Court's #legitimacy, & to the Nation's commitment to the rule of #law. It is therefore imperative to adhere to the essence of Roe's original decision, & we do so today."
#DavidSouter #SCOTUS #law #judiciary #Independence #ethics
“A decision to overrule Roe's essential holding under the existing circumstances would address error, if error there was,at the cost of both profound & unnecessary damage to the Court's #legitimacy, & to the Nation's commitment to the rule of #law. It is therefore imperative to adhere to the essence of Roe's original decision, & we do so today."
#DavidSouter #SCOTUS #law #judiciary #Independence #ethics
Then #Souter moved to the core of his argument, 2 paragraphs that rank among the most memorable lines ever authored by an American #jurist:
"Where, in the performance of its judicial duties, the Court decides a case in such a way as to resolve the sort of intensely divisive controversy reflected in #Roe & those rare, comparable cases, its decision has a dimension that the resolution of the normal case does not carry.
#DavidSouter #SCOTUS #law #judiciary #JudicialIndependence #ethics