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.
This of course screws up my Predictify.com “expert” rating in politics, as I predicted he wouldn’t announce until the end of the year. Thanks, David.
The upside is that there isn’t another human being who would render more liberal decisions to choose from. Worst case: swap one lefty for another.
See now that’s humorous, Paul. I thought Souter was far too moderate.