Associate Justice (retired) David Souter has died at the age of 85. Appointed to the Supreme Court by the first President Bush in 1990, he retired in 2009.

Reading his obituary on CNN, I was struck by this passage:

He was often understated in his opinions. In a 2009 concurrence in a case involving Navajo Nation mineral rights, Souter put down only two sentences.

“I am not through regretting that my position” in an early case “did not carry the day,” he wrote. “But it did not, and I agree that the precedent of that case calls for the result reached here.”

That comment is resonating with me because of an internal Mensa discussion we’re currently experiencing. Several people in the discussion seem to have difficulty understanding the fact that leaving an office does not absolve one of promises made when taking that office. Specifically, that a promise to respect the confidentiality of certain discussions must survive beyond the end of one’s term of office.

In that quote, Souter is saying that joining the Court obligated him to follow the precedents set by the Court before and during his tenure. Just as any other board of directors may debate an issue, with strong proponents on both sides, but once the body reaches a decision, it is the duty of all the members of that body to support it, or at the very least not publicly disagree with it.