Souter Places ‘Extraordinarily Long Restriction' on Access to His Papers
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter has donated his personal and professional papers to the New Hampshire Historical Society but placed a 50-year ban on public access to the documents.
The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times says the “extraordinarily long restriction” is longer than any other justice has placed on papers in recent memory. Some justices have released part of their papers earlier and held back sensitive documents for later release.
Court historian David Garrow, a University of Cambridge professor who has written on Souter, told The BLT he was hoping the restriction would be no longer than 25 years in length.
The blog notes that Souter is an avid historian, but also “an intensely private person” who likely wants to keep the documents out of the public eye while his former colleagues and law clerks are still alive. The restriction is “very Souter-esque,” the blog says.
