Long after Souter had retired from the Court, in the winter of 2016, he came to Phoenix to toast O’Connor at a prize dinner at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law (Arizona State’s law school had recently been renamed in her honor). Souter found O’Connor, who was in a wheelchair. “Hiya, toots,” he greeted her and held her hand as they entered the ballroom. He described her as his “first friend on the Court.” Through his first twenty-four decisions on the Court, October Term 1990, he voted with O’Connor one hundred percent of the time.
