Associate Justice David Souter has a reputation for being one of the more enigmatic and unpredictable of the high court's nine justices.
 Souter was born in Melrose, Massachusetts on Sept. 17,
1939 as the only child to Joseph A. Souter and Helen Hackett
Souter, but spent most of his childhood and adolescence
at his family's farm in Weare, New Hampshire.
After earning degrees from Harvard University and Magdalen
College at Oxford University, Souter returned to New Hampshire
in 1966 to work for the law firm of Orr and Reno. Souter
left private practice two years later to join the New Hampshire
Attorney General's office.
When Warren B. Rudman became the state's attorney general
in 1971, he selected Souter as his deputy. During the five
years Souter served under Rudman, the two formed a lifelong
friendship; Rudman would later help sponsor Souter's Supreme
Court nomination.
When Rudman stepped down in 1976, then-New Hampshire Gov.
Meldrin Thompson appointed Souter as attorney general.
In 1978, Souter became an associate justice of the New
Hampshire Superior Court, the state's trial court of general
jurisdiction, which made rounds from county to county. Newly
elected New Hampshire governor John Sununu appointed Souter
to the New Hampshire Supreme Court in 1983. Seven years
later, as President George Bush's Chief of Staff, Sununu
recommended Souter for a position on the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the First Circuit. Souter assumed that job in April
1990.
Just months later, Souter was nominated for a seat on the
Supreme Court, winning Senate confirmation in October by
a vote of 90 to 9. The press quickly dubbed Souter the "stealth
justice," since his professional record provoked little,
if any, controversy.
During his years on the bench, Souter gradually established
himself as an influential moderate with a respect for precedent
and for adhering to the rule of law.
Souter remains a staunch opponent of televising court proceedings,
remarking in 1996, "I can tell you the day you see
a camera come into our courtroom, it's going to roll over
my dead body."
A bachelor, Souter lives in Washington, D.C.
-- By Liz Harper, Online NewsHour
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