No More Souters

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 September 2023

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

David Souter is one of the most private, low-profile Justices ever to have served on the Supreme Court. He rarely gave interviews or speeches. Yet his tenure was anything but low profile. Deemed a “home run” nominee by the George H. W. Bush Administration, Souter refused to answer questions during his confirmation hearing about pressing issues—most critically, about abortion rights and Roe v. Wade, which Republicans were seeking to overturn. He was confirmed overwhelmingly. Then, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey and other decisions, he defied the expectations of the Party that had nominated him. Why? This episode, produced by WNYC Studios’ “More Perfect” and hosted by Julia Longoria, explains how “No More Souters” became a rallying cry for Republicans and how Souter’s tenure on the bench inspired a backlash that would change the Court forever. You can listen to more episodes of “More Perfect” here.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:10.0	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
0:13.3	The justices of the Supreme Court, who ended up overturning Roe versus Wade, all said a very similar thing when they were asked about Roe during their confirmation
0:23.3	hearings. Can you tell me whether Roe was decided correctly?
0:29.1	Senator, again, I would tell you that Roe versus Wade decided in 1973 as a precedent in the
0:35.5	United States Supreme Court. To your point, your broader point, Roe v. Wade is an important precedent of the Supreme Court.
0:42.7	It's been reaffirmed many times.
0:44.8	Senator, I completely understand why you are asking the question.
0:49.1	But, again, I can't pre-commit or say, yes, I'm going in with some agenda because I'm not.
0:58.3	Basically, they're saying this. It's a precedent, and I can't speak about a hypothetical case that
1:03.5	hasn't come before me yet. Now, remember, these are justices who would go on to sign an opinion
1:09.6	saying that Roe was, quote, egregiously wrong and on a collision course with the Constitution from the day it was decided.
1:17.7	When you're in this seat, I'm not just sitting here for myself. I'm sitting here as a representative of the judiciary and the obligation to preserve the independence of the judiciary, which I know you care deeply about.
1:29.7	And so one of the things I've done is studied very carefully
1:32.4	what nominees have done in the past,
1:34.6	what I've referred to as nominee precedent.
1:37.5	What Brett Kavanaugh called nominee precedent boils down to this.
1:42.7	I'll just keep my trap shut until I get the job, thank you very much.
1:46.8	So if that's the president, who said it? How can nominees just fudge their way through confirmation
1:53.8	hearings refusing all the while to answer questions that touch on every American's life?
1:59.9	One answer to that is this, David Souter. David Souter of New Hampshire,
2:05.7	a modest and unassuming justice who left an outsized mark on the court. Today on the New Yorker
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