With the announcement of Justice David Souter’s impending retirement, the speculation regarding the effect his departure will have on the composition of the United States Supreme Court begins.  Given that Justice Souter commonly votes with the liberal wing of the Court, and that Mr. Obama will presumably nominate a reliably liberal jurist to replace him, the common wisdom is that Souter’s resignation is unlikely to change the Court’s current 5-4 conservative/liberal balance.  However, a closer examination shows Souter’s record to be a mixed one.  While Souter has been a consistent defender of civil liberties and his rulings in the employment context are generally pro-employee, he has also sided with law enforcement and business on a number of occasions.  Souter recently authored employment opinions that increased the evidentiary burden on employers defending certain types of age discrimination cases and expanded Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision to cover statements employees make during internal investigations.  However, Souter also authored the majority opinion in last year’s Exxon-Valdez case that slashed Exxon’s liability for punitive damages by 80% -- from $2.5 billion to around $500 million.  A different vote would have allowed the original damage award to stand.  Thus, it’s apparent that, on some issues important to business, Souter’s replacement on the bench will not be entirely inconsequential.