Human connection is the heartbeat of law
This article is part a series of articles on the legacy and jurisprudence left by the late Justice David Souter.
Allison Larsen is the Alfred Wilson & Mary I.W. She was a clerk for Justice David Souter from 2005 to 2006. She clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court from 2005 to 2006 for Justice David Souter. It starts off like any other job, with the HR paperwork and getting a new ID. In July 2005, on my first day working as a law assistant for Justice David Souter I got lost in the labyrinthine Supreme Court building. I had to ask for directions from a security guard. When I told him my name and what I was doing, he said “Oh, you are lucky.” Justice Souter was praised by the woman helping me get my ID, the man operating the elevator, and even the woman giving me a tour of the Supreme Court Library. I quickly realized that everyone in the building knew Justice Souter, and that he also knew everyone else. He avoided the spotlight and was private, but he connected easily and often with others. He would tease them about things like wearing coats during the mild D.C. Winters or using tea bags only once. He knew the names of the children and any injuries that had occurred to every police officer, librarian, and custodial employee who worked with him.
As i reflect on the lessons Justice Souter has taught me, the first thing that comes to mind is what he called the “humane hearts the law must steer by.” What made him stand out to me was that he never forgot the connection between the law and humanity. He made every decision, weighed every fact, and considered every law move with the knowledge that it would affect other people’s lives. The justice repeatedly demonstrated this to his clerks. He worked much harder than we did, seven days a weeks and late into the evenings. (At this point he reluctantly used electricity to turn on a light.) The justice would not ask about the votes of the other justices when he was deciding on a last-minute appeal for death row, usually late at night. He also did not want to be told if his vote was “necessary”. I never saw him make an impulsive decision. I never saw him make a decision impulsively. He was always careful, well-researched, thoughtful and judicious.
In describing the decision-making of Learned Hand, one of his own judicial heros, Justice Souter wrote: “indisposed… to call the wall before him black or white. Judging with a diffidence that was almost fearful at times. Deciding a case because he could not escape… The chronic evenhandedness forced the judge to come forward and say what he really was choosing between. The torment of conflicting reasons forced him to confront the very facts which put his principles He valued stories of people in general, and he wanted to know the stories of everyone who worked at the Supreme Court. He knew that human connection is the heartbeat of law. He taught me, and many others, the most important lesson that a young lawyer could learn: the importance of caring for others and the wisdom of slowing down in order to get the law correct. And the incredible power that comes when these two forces are combined.
At the end of the day, the security guard on my first day had it exactly right: “Justice Souter is the best.”
Posted in Featured, Tributes to Justice David Souter
Recommended Citation:
Allison Orr Larsen,
Human connection is the heartbeat of law.
SCOTUSblog
(May. 14, 2025, 10:22 AM),
