Former SCOTUS Justice David Souter Dead at 85

Retired Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, the ascetic bachelor and New Hampshire Republican who became a darling of liberals during his nearly 20 years on the bench, has died. He was 85, reports the AP. Souter died Thursday at his home in New Hampshire, the Supreme Court said in a statement Friday. Souter was appointed by President George HW Bush in 1990, labeled the "stealth nominee" for his reticence to be in the limelight, per CNN. He was a reliably liberal vote on abortion, church-state relations, freedom of expression, and the accessibility of federal courts.

That veering to the left after his confirmation to the bench led to conservative outcry, with calls for "no more Souters" leading to more rigid vetting on the right for future justice nominees. Souter retired from the court in June 2009, at the relatively young age of 69, giving President Obama his first Supreme Court vacancy to fill. Obama chose Sonia Sotomayor, the court's first Latina justice.

As for his personal life, the New York Times describes Souter as "a shy man who never married and who much preferred an evening alone with a good book to a night in the company of Washington insiders." "Justice David Souter served our court with great distinction for nearly 20 years," Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement, per CNN. "He brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service." (More David Souter stories.)