Customer Reviews

David Hackett Souter: Traditional Republican On The Rehnquist Court

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Writing judicial biography can be a challenging undertaking. How much of the judge's family history should be included?; what elements of the judge's pre-court career merit careful examination?; how extensive should the discussion be of how and why the judge was selected for the position?; and finally, how many of the judge's decisions should be reviewed to round out the picture? It is a pleasure to report that Professor Yarbrough has mastered the craft well, having written prior biographies of both Justices Harlan, Judge Frank Johnson, and District Court Judge Waring.

This an enormously valuable resource for understanding Justice Souter. It gives just enough attention to his family background and his pre-Court career. Many judicial biographies rush over the process whereby the subject is selected; not so here. This chapter is particularly of pertinent interest given the current Roberts' hearings. It is surprising to see Souter, labeled by many as the "stealth nominee," being far more candid with the Judiciary Committee than Judge Roberts in his testimony.

It is a particularly difficult task to discuss the judicial philosophy of a subject who is still on the court. In fact, Justice Souter will finish out 15 years in October, 2005. Once again, Yarbrough is up to the task. Much attention is devoted, and rightly so, to Souter's "common law" adherence to precedent. Over the 15 years so far, the Justice has developed a position of moderate liberalism (with the exception of criminal justice) on such issues as establishment, maintaining Congressional authority, limiting "state sovereignty," restricting the reach of the "taking clause, Bush v. Gore, and protecting the right to privacy.

The book is especially valuable in discussing Souter's interactions with other members of the Court, particularly as regards the critical Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision. Yarbrough here relies heavily on Justice Blackmun's now public court files to trace the maneuverings that occurred in this case. As I explained in my Amazon review of Linda Greenhouse's Blackmun biography, I am still a bit uncomfortable with the private memos of sitting justices being studied, even though they add enormously to the value of Yarbrough's discussion. His chapter on Bush v. Gore is also very strong in terms on explaining exactly what motivated various of the Justices in that case.

I would have liked Yarbrough to have included a bibliography, to compliment his extensive notes. He also apparently has made little use of the professional literature (such as law review articles) on Souter, although I was surprised to discover that there is not that much attention that has been devoted to the Justice. All the more reason to be appreciative of this fine judicial biography that admirably fills the gap.

The book mostly details his legal career which is a little dry, it came most alive when describing his early life and personal habits. The section concerning his time as the NH's attorney general was very thought provoking b/c you can trace from what conservative beginnings sprang his judicial leanings.But 3/4s through the book I started turning to the end of the book...even though I knew the way it ended, its a biography.