Bookish and reclusive jurist David Souter, who joined the U.S. Supreme Court as a supposed conservative "stealth nominee" but instead emerged as a liberal justice who backed abortion rights and dissented in the 2000 ruling that gave the presidency to Republican George W.

Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, a Republican appointee who retired from the high court in 2009 after voting consistently with its liberal wing, has died, the Supreme Court announced on Friday.