David Hackett Souter Traditional Republican on the Rehnquist Court [Hardcover]

When the first President Bush chose David Hackett Souter for the Supreme Court in 1990, the slender New Englander with the shy demeanor and ambiguous past was quickly dubbed a stealth candidate . Since his appointment, Souter has embraced a flexible, evolving, and highly pragmatic judicial style that embraces a high regard for precedent--even liberal decisions of the Warren and Burger Courts with which he may have personally disagreed. Ultimately, Yarbrough contends, Souter has become the principal Rehnquist Court opponent of the originalist, text-bound jurisprudence that many of the more conservative Justices profess to champion. Sifting through Souter's opinions, papers of the Justice's contemporaries and other relevant records and interviews, esteemed Supreme Court biographer Tinsley Yarbrough here gives us the real David Souter, crafting a fascinating account of one of the heretofore most elusive Justices in the history of the Court.


Preface
Acknowledgments
1. New England Yankee
2. New Hampshire Judge
3. Stealth Candidate
4. Common Law Justice
5. Constitutional Nationalist
6. Traditional Republican
Epilogue
Bibliographical Note
Notes
Index

A detailed and sympathetic portrait of the justice, and its account of Souter's confirmation is particularly salient at the moment. --Emily Bazelon,Washington Post Bookworld

... helps readers understand how it [the Supreme Court] addresses hot-button social issues. His book is illuminating for anyone wishing to follow current Supreme Court confirmation issues. --Library Journal

Incisive, judicious... gets to the core of Souter--and of today's political climate.... At a time when the Supreme Court is once again being remade, this biography opens up the world of one of the court's most intriguing members. --Publishers Weekly

Tinsley Yarbrough provides a marvelous portrait of David Souter both as a jurist and as a malSç