RIP Justice David Souter

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter has died at age 85.  Linda Greenhouse has a detailed discussion of Justice’s life and craft.  

I am not familiar with Justice Souter’s body of immigration jurisprudence and am not sure how much he has written on the subject.  But I do remember well one of his immigration opinions.  Known for being appointed by a Republican President who often sided with liberal justices, Justice Souter concurred in part and dissented in part in Demore v. Kim (2003), which upheld the indefinite detention of an immigrant with a criminal conviction.  He concluded his opinion as follows:

“This case is not about the National Government’s undisputed power to detain aliens in order to avoid flight or prevent danger to the community. The issue is whether that power may be exercised by detaining a still lawful permanent resident alien when there is no reason for it and no way to challenge it. The Court’s holding that the Due Process Clause allows this under a blanket rule is devoid of even ostensible justification in fact and at odds with the settled standard of liberty. I respectfully dissent.”   (bold added).

Powerful medicine that should be taken to heart as the nation navigates contentious immigration waters. 

KJ