Justice Souter to retire so he can spend more time hiking in New Hampshire!

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B the Hiker

B the Hiker

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Let's see: be a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, spend more time hiking in the Whites? Hmm. Tough one!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/us/01souter.html?hp

"Friends said Thursday evening that [Souter] had often spoken of his intentions to be the court’s first retirement if Mr. Obama won the election last fall. He told friends he looked forward to returning to New Hampshire while he was young enough to enjoy climbing mountains and other outdoor activities."

Brian
 
Could you imagine if he was a VFTT member while on the bench. Reading some trip report or writing a PM about car pool arrangements or a post about Manchester Beer Night while a case is being argued...
 
I was going to say "how do you know he isn't already a member?"

But then I realized why would he ever want to read this site? People arguing over minutiae is his day job, I'm sure he has enough of that already. :p
 
He would be following in the footsteps of Justice Douglas, who brought a lot of publicity to the whites and the AMC huts back in the sixties (while he was on the bench).
 
There used to be a couple of peak registers that if you signed them, you could be named to the US Supreme Court - it worked for another guy but not for me :)

Too bad those registers are gone now that there is a vacancy :)
 
From today's Washington Post, Souter Bids a Fond Farewell:
"I'm going to be seventy soon. I've watched other justices wait until their eighties to retire, and by that time they have nothing left to retire to. I didn't want that to be me."

He told a questioner at the Saturday event that there's no good hiking south of Massachusetts and described a dream he's had every day since deciding to retire: He is standing atop New Hampshire's highest peak, above the treeline, looking down a path that winds away into the distance.
Click to expand...
 
A column in the NY Times on Justice Souter and his decision to return to our mountains before he is too old to hike: Souter’s Summits. Much of it is too political for VFTT (please do not comment on the politics!!) but this quote is appropriate:
And, strangest of all: he’s leaving one of the most powerful positions on earth because he wants more time to hike in his beloved New Hampshire mountains.

To many, this last assertion is proof of his advanced eccentricity. But let’s give him his due: anyone who has climbed every one of New Hampshire’s 4,000-foot peaks, as the springy 69-year-old Souter reportedly has done, knows a kind of exhilaration that his black-robed colleagues in the tidal basin will never know.

How strange is it, really, to want another taste of the savage winds atop Mount Washington before the knees go bad?

Earlier this month, Souter showed a flash of regional chauvinism on the issue closest to his heart when he said there was no good hiking south of Massachusetts. He then described a dream he’s had every day since he announced his decision to step down: he is standing atop the highest point of New Hampshire, above timberline and looking down at the path from which he came.
Click to expand...
Some of our friends think we are weird ... but we are in distinguished company!
 
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