Editing David Souter (section)

{{Short description|American lawyer and jurist (1939–2025)}}
{{other people|David Souter}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name         = David Souter
| image        = DavidSouter.jpg
| caption      = Official portrait, 1990
| office       = [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States]]
| nominator    = [[George H. W. Bush]]
| term_start   = October 9, 1990<!-- Term start date as per www.supremecourt.gov, reflects date oath taken -->
| term_end     = June 29, 2009
| predecessor  = [[William J. Brennan Jr.]]
| successor    = [[Sonia Sotomayor]]
| office1      = Judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit]]
| nominator1   = George H. W. Bush
| term_start1  = May 25, 1990
| term_end1    = October 9, 1990
| predecessor1 = [[Hugh H. Bownes]]
| successor1   = [[Norman H. Stahl]]
| office2      = Associate Justice of the [[New Hampshire Supreme Court]]
| nominator2   = [[John H. Sununu|John Sununu]]
| term_start2  = 1983
| term_end2    = 1990
| predecessor2 = Maurice Bois
| successor2   = Sherman Horton
| order4       = 20th
| office4      = Attorney General of New Hampshire
| governor4    = [[Meldrim Thomson Jr.]]
| term_start4  = July 17, 1976
| term_end4    = September 19, 1978
| predecessor4 = [[Warren Rudman]]
| successor4   = [[Thomas D. Rath]]
| birth_name   = David Hackett Souter
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1939|09|17}}
| birth_place  = {{nowrap|[[Melrose, Massachusetts]], U.S.}}
| death_date   = {{death date and age|2025|05|08|1939|09|17}}
| death_place  = [[Hopkinton, New Hampshire]], U.S.
| party        = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/11/AR2008021102753.html |title=As on Bench, Voting Styles Are Personal |first1=Robert |last1=Barnes |first2=Lucy |last2=Shackelford |date=February 12, 2008 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=August 26, 2017 |archive-date=November 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126013018/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/11/AR2008021102753.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
| education    = {{Unbulleted list|[[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[LLB]])|[[Magdalen College, Oxford]] (BA)}}<!-- An Oxon MA is NOT earned, it's a promotion per tradition. -->
| signature    = Souter signature.png
| module       = {{Listen voice |filename=David Souter delivers the opinion of the Court in Clark v. Arizona.ogg |title=Souter's voice |description=Souter delivering the ''[[Clark v. Arizona]]'' majority opinion. |recorded=June 29, 2006}}
}}

'''David Hackett Souter''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|uː|t|ər}} {{respell|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 until his retirement in 2009.<ref name=SCOTUSjustices>{{cite web| url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/members_text.aspx| title= Justices 1789 to Present| publisher=Supreme Court of the United States| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=February 15, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/press/pr_05-01-09.html |title=Press Release |date=February 13, 2009 |publisher=Supreme Court of the United States |access-date=June 27, 2017 |archive-date=July 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721063046/https://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/press/pr_05-01-09.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 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 Court|Rehnquist]] and [[Roberts Court|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).<ref name="nytimesprofile">{{cite news |date=August 3, 2017 |title=David H. Souter |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/david_h_souter/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906031707/http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/david_h_souter/index.html |archive-date=September 6, 2015 |access-date=October 11, 2009 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

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 [[United States courts of appeals|circuit court level]].