Supreme Court Justice David Souter to Retire

by: Chris Bowers

Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 23:15

NPR has learned that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the current court term.

The vacancy will give President Obama his first chance to name a member of the high court and begin to shape its future direction.

At 69, Souter is nowhere near the oldest member of the court. In fact, he is in the younger half of the court's age range, with five justices older and just three younger. So far as anyone knows, he is in good health. But he has made clear to friends for some time that he wanted to leave Washington, a city he has never liked, and return to his native New Hampshire. Now, according to reliable sources, he has decided to take the plunge and has informed the White House of his decision.

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 two decades.

In addition, Souter was apparently satisfied that neither the court's oldest member, 89-year-old John Paul Stevens, nor its lone woman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had cancer surgery over the winter, wanted to retire at the end of this term. Not wanting to cause a second vacancy, Souter apparently had waited to learn his colleagues' plans before deciding his own.

The 2008 election really was a close call. If John McCain had been able to appoint Souder's replacement, it almost certainly would have tipped the court against, among many other things, Roe vs. Wade.

It is quite possible both to appoint a more progressive Justice than Souder, and also to increase the lacking diversity on the court. Given the current balance, appointing a woman to fill Souder's position is a must, and appointing a minority woman might also be essential. Further, this might be a situation where having 60 seats in the Senate is actually useful, as any Democrats voting against President Obama's nominee from the right can easily be painted as the ultimate party backstabbers.