WASHINGTON — Justice David H. Souter, a New Hampshire Republican who became a key liberal vote on the Supreme Court, reportedly plans to retire this summer, clearing the way for President Obama to make his first nomination to the high court.
Since the court has only one woman among its nine justices, most observers have predicted that Obama will select a woman for the first court opening. There is no obvious successor to Souter, and the administration has had just three months to sift through potential nominees.
Souter's retirement is not likely to change the court's ideological balance. He has been a reliable liberal on all of the major issues decided recently, including abortion, civil rights, religion, Guantanamo Bay detention and the death penalty. Obama is expected to appoint a replacement who holds similar views.
The justices are due to meet this morning in their private conference. Souter is expected to disclose his retirement plans to his colleagues then, court sources said.
His pending departure was first reported by NPR, NBC and the Associated Press on Thursday evening. A Supreme Court spokeswoman refused to comment.
Souter's departure would come as no surprise to his colleagues and others who know him well. He has been in good health and, at 69, is not old by the standards of the high court. But he intensely dislikes Washington, has few friends in the capital and leads a solitary life. He has often said that his mood brightens when he goes home to New Hampshire.
Two of his favorite colleagues -- John Paul Stevens, 89, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 76 -- have been the center of retirement speculation. But Souter had not hired law clerks for the fall, leading many to suspect that he planned to step down at the end of the court term in June.
Souter has also voiced frustration with the court's conservative drift of late.
On Wednesday, he sharply questioned a lawyer who wanted the court to strike down part of the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965. Souter said the nation had made progress on civil rights but added that he did not see a radical change that would justify repealing much of the act.
Souter's pending retirement puts another important issue before Obama. The president is a former professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago and has knowledge of the issues before the court. He also knows many lawyers and judges he could nominate.
