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Souter Seals His Secrets, but Rabble Guesses Them Anyway

By John Bringardner

Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter is donating his personal and professional papers to the New Hampshire Historical Society, reports The National Law Journal's Tony Mauro. But in a move that adds yet another epithet to the long list of his eccentricities, the D.C.-hating, apple-core-eating, wood-cabin-inhabiting, Luddite justice is also secretive: His donation came with the caveat that public access to his papers must be restricted for 50 years. "The unusually severe bar on access is surprising in one sense," Mauro writes, "but very Souter-esque in another." Souter is an avid historian -- in fact joining the board of trustees of the New Hampshire Historical Society as part of the announcement of his decision to donate his papers there. He knows well the "call of history," the obligation of historical figures and public officials to help flesh out the how and why of important events. But Souter is also an intensely private person, especially protective of the Supreme Court on which he served for 19 years. He was a lifelong diarist and may have decided that his files were too sensitive to be made public while any of his colleagues or many of his law clerks are still alive. Other...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on August 27, 2009 (boomark / email).