David Souter Shaped the Supreme Court Through the Backlash He Inspired
Supreme Court Justice David Souter, who died last week at age 85, will probably not be remembered as the author of any truly momentous majority opinions, because he never really wrote any of those. Nor will Souter be remembered as one of the Court’s great dissenters, because none of his dissents inspired the next generation to keep the faith about unpopular ideas. Souter’s career will likely be remembered for a more unusual reason: the severe and enduring backlash that he inspired.
Appointed to the Supreme Court in 1990 by Republican President George H.W. Bush, Souter quickly emerged as a consistent “liberal” vote in high-profile cases about hot-button issues such as abortion and affirmative action. This was supremely disappointing to conservative legal activists, who had hoped Bush
Article from Reason.com
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