Not even the death of a former Supreme Court justice can stop PBS News Hour from freaking out about President Donald Trump setting up some sort of dictatorship. On Friday, former Trump impeachment witness and David Souter law clerk Noah Feldman joined the show to remember his former boss and while he never explicitly mentioned Trump, it was clear who he was referring to when he declared of Souter’s legacy, “in the current moment, when the threat to the rule of law is unprecedented, we need that model.”
Narrator William Brangham played a clip of Souter from 2012 during an interview with News Hour’s Margaret Warner where he declared:
I don't worry about our losing republican government in the United States because I'm afraid of a foreign invasion. [Jump Cut] What I worry about is that, when problems are not addressed, people will not know who is responsible. And when the problems get bad enough, as they might do, for example, with another serious terrorist attack, as they might do with another financial meltdown, someone person will come forward and say, give me total power and I will solve this problem.”
After the clip, Feldman added, “Justice Souter's whole career was devoted to being an example of the rule of law and a justice of the Supreme Court who was completely uninterested in partisanship or political ideology, but was just committed to the idea of getting the law right. And in the current moment, when the threat to the rule of law is unprecedented, we need that model.”
As for the Souter-specific parts of Brangham’s report, he earlier recalled, “Despite having little national profile, his fellow New Hampshirite Bush's Chief of Staff John Sununu, assured conservative skeptics of his bona fides. And Souter was confirmed 90-9, but he quickly angered some of his Republican backers. In 1992's Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Souter joined the court's moderates to uphold abortion rights nationwide. And in one notable dissent in the controversial 2000 election case Bush v. Gore, Souter argued Florida should continue its recount.”
While Brangham began his remembrance by pointing out that Souter did side more often with the Court’s liberals, it is highly unlikely that when Clarence Thomas dies, PBS will say he joined to court’s moderates in Bush v. Gore or any other landmark case that liberals don’t like.
For his part, Feldman also claimed, “The biggest mistake that people made about David Souter was thinking that somehow he was a conservative when he went on to the Court and then magically became a liberal. In fact, Justice Souter was hiding in plain sight the whole time. He believed that the Constitution was not a dead document that should be interpreted according to what people thought 200-and-some years ago, but rather was a document that needed to be interpreted in the light of our changing needs and circumstances.”
How can we have the rule of law if the Constitution must change to say whatever Feldman wants it to say?
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Here is a transcript for the May 9 show:
PBS News Hour
5/9/2025
7:41 PM ET
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Despite having little national profile, his fellow New Hampshirite Bush's Chief of Staff John Sununu, assured conservative skeptics of his bona fides. And Souter was confirmed 90-9, but he quickly angered some of his Republican backers.
In 1992's Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Souter joined the court's moderates to uphold abortion rights nationwide. And in one notable dissent in the controversial 2000 election case Bush v. Gore, Souter argued Florida should continue its recount.
NOAH FELDMAN: The biggest mistake that people made about David Souter was thinking that somehow he was a conservative when he went on to the Court and then magically became a liberal.
In fact, Justice Souter was hiding in plain sight the whole time. He believed that the Constitution was not a dead document that should be interpreted according to what people thought 200-and-some years ago, but rather was a document that needed to be interpreted in the light of our changing needs and circumstances.
BRANGHAM: Months after President Obama took office, Souter announced his decision to retire and move back home to New Hampshire. Justice Sonia Sotomayor took his place on the bench.
While Souter rarely spoke about politics after stepping down, in a 2012 interview with the News Hour’s Margaret Warner, he warned of the fragility of American democracy.
DAVID SOUTER: I don't worry about our losing republican government in the United States because I'm afraid of a foreign invasion. [Jump Cut] What I worry about is that, when problems are not addressed, people will not know who is responsible.
And when the problems get bad enough, as they might do, for example, with another serious terrorist attack, as they might do with another financial meltdown, someone person will come forward and say, give me total power and I will solve this problem.
FELDMAN: Justice Souter's whole career was devoted to being an example of the rule of law and a justice of the Supreme Court who was completely uninterested in partisanship or political ideology, but was just committed to the idea of getting the law right.
And in the current moment, when the threat to the rule of law is unprecedented, we need that model.
