Foreword
On May 1, 2009, President Barack Obama announced that Justice David Souter intended to retire from the Supreme Court and return to his New Hampshire home. Souter’s decision came as somewhat of a surprise to most; at 69, he is younger than Justices Stephen Breyer (age 71), Antonin Scalia (73), Anthony Kennedy (73), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (76), and John Paul Stevens (89). Souter’s retirement gave Obama his first opportunity for a high court nomination. On May 26, he announced the selection of Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the New York-based Second Circuit, which considers cases…
