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David Hackett Souter

David Hackett Souter

Supreme Court of the United States

Born 1939 in Melrose, MA

Died 2025 in Concord, NH

FJC ID: 2244

Career output and lasting influence

Opinions attributed per year · peak 10/year

Supreme Court of New Hampshire · 1983–1990First Circuit Court of Appeals · 1990–1990Supreme Court of the United States · 1990–2025198319902000201020202026100
opinions

Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 8,126/year

Supreme Court of New Hampshire · 1983–1990First Circuit Court of Appeals · 1990–1990Supreme Court of the United States · 1990–20251983199020002010202020268.1k0
citing decisions

Supreme Court of New Hampshire · 1983–1990First Circuit Court of Appeals · 1990–1990Supreme Court of the United States · 1990–2025

Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.

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David Hackett Souter ( SOO-tər; September 17, 1939 – May 8, 2025) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1990 to 2009. Appointed by President George H. W. Bush to fill the seat that had been vacated by William J. Brennan Jr., Souter was a member of both the Rehnquist and Roberts courts.

Raised in New England, Souter attended Harvard College; Magdalen College, Oxford; and Harvard Law School. After briefly working in private practice, he moved to public service. He served as a prosecutor in the office of the Attorney General of New Hampshire (1968–1976); as attorney general of New Hampshire (1976–1978); as an associate justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court (1978–1983); as an associate justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court (1983–1990); and as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1990).

In mid-2009, after Barack Obama took office as U.S. president, Souter announced his retirement from the Court; he was succeeded by Sonia Sotomayor. Souter continued to hear cases by designation at the circuit court level.

Full biography on Wikipedia ↗
Gender
Male
Race
White

Prior employment

  1. Supreme Court of New Hampshire
    Associate justice · 1983–1990
  2. Superior Court of New Hampshire
    Associate justice · 1978–1983
  3. State of New Hampshire
    Attorney general · 1976–1978
  4. State of New Hampshire
    State of New Hampshire
    Deputy attorney general · 1971–1976
  5. State of New Hampshire
    State of New Hampshire
    Assistant attorney general · 1968–1971
  6. Private practice, Concord, New Hampshire
    1966–1968
  7. Magdalen College, Oxford University
    Rhodes Scholar · 1961–1963

Appointments

  1. Supreme Court of the United States
    Supreme Court of the United States
    1990–2025 · Appointed by George H.W. Bush (Republican)
    Term ended: Death
  2. First Circuit Court of Appeals
    U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
    1990–1990 · Appointed by George H.W. Bush (Republican)
    Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
  3. Supreme Court of New Hampshire
    Supreme Court of New Hampshire
    1983–1990
    Term ended: other_pos

Education

  1. Harvard University
    ba
  2. Harvard University
    jd
  3. Harvard Law School
    Harvard Law School
    LL.B. · 1966
  4. University of Oxford, Magdalen College
    B.A. · 1963
  5. University of Oxford, Magdalen College
    M.A. · 1963
  6. Harvard College
    B.A. · 1961