Did Souter cry over 2000 recount vote?

Manchester Union Leader ^ | September 5, 2007 | John DiStaso

[billorites]

Did U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter of Weare weep and consider resigning after being on the losing side of the historic 2000 split decision that ended the Florida recount and effectively installed George W. Bush as President?

Souter's close friend, former New Hampshire Sen. Warren Rudman, calls that assertion in a new book by a well-known legal expert "absolutely false."

A blog on the examiner.com Web site yesterday previewed prominent attorney and CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin's new book, "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court."

Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin wrote in their "Yeas & Nays" blog that according to the Toobin book, "Justice David Souter nearly resigned in the wake of 'Bush v. Gore,' so distraught was he over the decision."

Souter, after being a key questioner from the bench during the hearing, was among the dissenters in the 5-4 decision issued in December 2000.

►Read Souter's dissenting opinion in Bush v. Gore

Dufour and Gavin report that in the book, which goes on sale on Sept. 18, Toobin writes that "while the other justices tried to put the case behind them, 'David Souter alone was shattered,' at times weeping when he thought of the case."

They quote the Toobin book as saying that for several months, "it was not clear whether he would remain as 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."

"That's absolutely false," an obviously irritated Rudman told the New Hampshire Union Leader yesterday. "It's one of the great works of fiction - that book should win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction."

Rudman said that "no one" knows more about how Souter felt about the decision - and how Souter felt in its aftermath - than he does.

"It's no secret that (Souter) wasn't pleased, but to say he was weeping and crying is well - I won't use the word in the newspaper," said Rudman.

According to the CNN Web site, Toobin has written several "critically acclaimed, best-selling books," including "A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal that Nearly Brought Down a President," "The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson," and "Too Close to Call: The 36-Day Battle to Decide the 2000 Election." He is also a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine.

"Nobody is closer to David Souter than I am and that story is false," said Rudman, who refused to say if he knew whether Souter was aware of the book's passage or the Web report on it.

While the book reportedly alleges that "a handful of close friends" urged Souter not to resign, Rudman said the author "never talked to me. You'd think he would have called me.

"It was a 5-4 decision," Rudman continued, "and David dissented strongly, but he got over it."

Rudman said he speaks with Souter often, and even now, 17 years after being appointed, Souter "loves being on the Supreme Court. He has found his calling in life.

"He does not like living in Washington. Nor do I," said Rudman. "But I've never discussed his future plans with him and anyone who claims they have is lying. If he discussed (leaving the court), I'd know about it."

According to the blog, Toobin's book also tells a story in which Souter played along with a stranger who mistook him for Justice Stephen Breyer. When the stranger asked the judge to name the best thing about being on the court, Souter reportedly replied:

"Well, I'd have to say it's the privilege of serving with David Souter."

"That story happens to be true," Rudman said. "It's been printed before. That's David's witty, dry sense of humor."

Rudman, who represented New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate from 1980 to 1993, has been a longtime friend of Souter and was Souter's chief sponsor in his U.S. Senate confirmation hearings in 1990.

Souter succeeded Rudman as New Hampshire attorney general in 1976 after the two had served together in that office for several years.

Attorney Tom Rath, another close friend of Souter, yesterday would not discuss the matter.

"I just don't talk about David publicly," Rath said.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Rudman and Souter,
Sitting in a Trie,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
First came Bill,
Then came Al,
Then came Hill in a baby-Hsu carriage.....

[Robert A Cook PE]

(AP) Supreme Court Justice David Souter suffered minor injuries when a group of young men assaulted him as he jogged on a city street, a court spokeswoman said Saturday.

The attack occurred about 9 p.m. Friday, court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said.

Supreme Court police took Souter, 64, to a Washington hospital, where he was examined and released about 1 a.m. Saturday, Arberg said. She did not detail his injuries except to say they were minor.

Souter was not robbed, Arberg said.

She gave no other details about the assault, or about any police investigation or arrests.

Metropolitan Police Dept. spokesman Sgt. Joe Gentile refused to comment. A spokeswoman for Washington Hospital Center also would not talk about the incident because of privacy rules.

Souter was running alone when he was attacked. He lives in a city neighborhood not far from the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill, but it was unclear whether the assault occurred near his home.

Souter is among the youngest justices and is a regular jogger.

He is not the first justice to be injured while exercising. Justice Stephen Breyer was thrown from his bicycle several years ago and suffered minor injuries.

Souter was named to the bench by the first President Bush in 1990.

©MMIV, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[LibLieSlayer]

I remember that... he was “trolling”.

LLS

[sr4402]

Souter is a What? And what are those Tears?? Something that rhymes with Hockadile?

/Sarcasm ON

[Past Your Eyes]

Wonderful Warren Rudman is the vote that I most regret ever casting. And I did it twice. :(
It’s a good thing I don’t have video of his performances with Ollie North, Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. I would probably develop an ulcer of epic proportions. Or drop dead from apoplexy.

[Busywhiskers]

A pox on Warren Rudman for ever pushing creepy closet leftist Souter for the Supreme Court.

[MEGoody]

Bush’s victory in 2000 did send a lot of liberals into a fit of depression (which they haven’t been able to get past).