This week, the US Supreme Court announced the passing of Justice David Souter, who served on the Court from 1990 to 2009, where he wrote landmark opinions on a wide range of issues, including the separation of church and state, campaign finance reform, abortion rights, and pleading standards in civil cases. I had the good fortune of serving as his law clerk from 2006 to 2007, at the height of his powers.
Justice Souter embodied the highest ideals of civil service. Appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush, he immediately established himself as one of the leading voices on the Court. He was an independent thinker not afraid to make decisions that defied the expectations of the political party that appointed him, especially as the values of his party changed around him over the years. A self-described “common law” judge, he placed special emphasis on the facts of the case, perhaps because he was the only member of the Rehnquist Court who had previously served as a trial judge.
Despite almost always being the smartest in any room, Souter was invariably the most humble. He treated his law clerks as if they were his law partners, always welcoming them to challenge his thinking. He knew the names and personal backgrounds of every employee of the Court, right down to the guards and elevator operators. On most weekends, he came into the office, dressed in a three-piece suit, and as he strode toward his chambers, he greeted each staffer and asked about their various family members by name.
More than any of his peers, Justice Souter avoided the spotlight and disliked the Washington, D.C., scene, preferring to return to his beloved New Hampshire. When he stepped down from the Court at age 69 in 2009, he did something virtually unprecedented: he went on to hear cases for more than a decade in the federal court of appeals in Boston, meaning his opinions were subject to the review of his former colleagues. Souter just loved being a judge, and for him, it was never about seeking the limelight.
To say Justice Souter was a throwback would be an understatement. He drafted opinions in longhand, without the use of a computer or cell phone. When he needed to be reached for a vote during the summer months, federal agents put a Post-it note on his front door in New Hampshire reminding him to dial in. I once summoned the courage to ask him whether he might one day consider using email. He replied that he might — depending on “the rising cost of postage stamps.”
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Souter never took himself too seriously. In the Grokster case, he wrote for the majority on the topic of intellectual property in the context of file sharing. He asked his law clerks to recommend an artist he could reference in his opinion. The artist we chose encapsulated our view of the boss: Modest Mouse.
As modest as a mouse but as strong and intellectually self-confident as a lion, we will never forget the example of civil service that he set.
Bryan Leach, CEO of Ibotta headquartered in Denver, served as a law clerk to Justice Souter during the October Term 2006.
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