A patriot returns to New England

In 2000, Souter voted and dissented along with the three other justices in Bush vs. Gore to allow the presidential election recount to continue while the majority voted to end the recount based on the rule of law, making Bush the president.

Jeffrey Toobin wrote of Souter's reaction to Bush v. Gore in his 2007 book The Nine:

"Toughened, or coarsened, by their worldly lives, the other dissenters could shrug and move on, but Souter couldn’t. His whole life was being a judge. He came from a tradition where the independence of the judiciary was the foundation of the rule of law. And Souter believed Bush v. Gore mocked that tradition. His colleagues’ actions were so transparently, so crudely partisan that Souter thought he might not be able to serve with them anymore. Souter seriously considered resigning. For many months, it was not at all clear whether he would remain as a justice. That the Court met in a city he loathed made the decision even harder. At the urging of a handful of close friends, he decided to stay on, but his attitude toward the Court was never the same. There were times when David Souter thought of Bush v. Gore and wept."

George H.W. Bush's only gift to progressives was also William Brennan's last. The century's greatest justice affectionately molded David Souter into the moderate he would become.

Mild mannered, scholarly and a true gentleman, he will be missed. The nation owes Souter a debt of gratitude for his jurisprudential evolution and his integrity during 2000's judicial coup d'etat. And for staying as long as he did, during the darkest of times, in a city he so loathed.