Souter considered resigning after Bush v. Gore, book says

[EV_Ares]

By: The Associated Press
Sep 7, 2007 02:43 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) - Justice David Souter contemplated resigning from the Supreme Court because he was so upset by the decision that sealed the 2000 presidential election for George W. Bush, a new book says.

Souter, one of the four dissenting justices in the case, believed his five colleagues in the majority acted in a "crudely partisan" manner in siding with Bush to shut down the recount of votes in Florida in December 2000, author Jeffrey Toobin writes in "The Nine, Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court." A day after the decision in Bush v. Gore, Vice President Al Gore formally conceded the election.

"Souter seriously considered resigning. For many months, it was not at all clear whether he would remain as a justice," Toobin writes. "At the urging of a handful of close friends, he decided to stay on, but his attitude toward the court was never the same. There were times when David Souter thought of Bush v. Gore and wept."

The reclusive Souter, 67, typically returns to his home in New Hampshire as soon as the court finishes work in late June and heads back to Washington only in time for the start of the next term. He was named to the court by the first President Bush in 1990.

Toobin does not say how he learned that Souter thought about retiring, although he says generally that his sources include the justices themselves.

(entire article @ link)

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0907/5709.html

[left is right]

1. Please, please, Justice Souter, continue to hang in there

And as for the remaining 4 of the 5 justices that selected the chimp, may you never have a moment of peace for the rest of your lives!