The Kind of Guy a Mother Would Love

By Janice Castro

What was Supreme Court Justice DAVID SOUTER doing while Clarence Thomas was cramming for his Senate confirmation grilling? The right thing. During his own trial by klieg lights last year, Souter received more than 1,000 letters. Friends say the quiet jurist spent this summer holed up at home in Weare, N.H., answering each and every one -- in longhand.

With reporting by Sidney Urquhart