So Long Souter

Supreme Court Justice Souter To Retire

Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning retire at the end of the current court term. Souter, 69, has informed the White House of his decision and plans to return to his native New Hampshire according to NPR, which first reported the story.

According to NPR, Souter will remain on the court until a successor has been chosen and confirmed. The court recently finished hearing a term of oral arguments and will begin issuing decisions this summer before reconvening in October.

What is interesting is that justices normally try to retire so that a President of the same party that appointed them would be able to name their successor. But Souter seems to have specifically waited until Obama was settled in office before announcing his decisions.

Souter caught the most hell, and deservedly so, for his decision in the Kelo v. New London, which weakened property rights. Activists sought to make him a victim of his own judicial decision. I thought it a shame that it didn't work.

Lost Liberty Hotel -- The Lost Liberty Hotel or Lost Liberty Inn was a proposed hotel to be built on the site of United States Supreme Court Associate Justice David Souter's properties in Weare, New Hampshire. The proposal was a reaction to the Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London (2005) decision in which Souter joined the majority ruling that the U.S. Constitution allows the use of eminent domain to condemn privately owned real property for use in private economic development projects.

Who will replace Souter? I know one thing -- the Republicans won't be able to do a thing about it. Obama will be under some pressure to name a woman. Some early speculation here: Souter Said To Be Retiring; Who Would Replace Him?

Among those who might make the list of replacements: incoming solicitor general Elena Kagan, formerly the dean of the Harvard Law School, Cass Sunstein, a brilliant constitutional law prof who now works at Obama's Office of Management and Budget, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, appelate judge Diane Wood, and Leah Ward Sears, the chief justice of Georgia's Supreme Court. A dark horse might be Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York.