David H. Souter

David H. Souter (1939- ), American jurist, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. Born in Melrose, Massachusetts, he studied for two years as a Rhodes scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, before returning to Harvard University to take his law degree. After two years in private practice in New Hampshire he entered public service, eventually becoming the state's attorney general (1976-78). Named to the state trial court in 1978, he was elevated to the state supreme court in 1983. He served for two months in 1990 as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. In July of that year, Souter was nominated by President George Bush to the Supreme Court and confirmed by the Senate in October.