US Supreme Court Justice David Souter to retire (AFP)

[Yahoo! News]

AFP - US Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the court's current term, US media reported Thursday, giving President Barack Obama an early opportunity to name a judge to the highest US court.

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David Souter intends to retire," NBC News reported late Thursday, citing unnamed sources.

National Public Radio, citing US government officials, said that Souter is expected to "remain on the bench until a successor has been chosen and confirmed."

Souter, 69, "has informed the White House of his decision," NPR added.

Due to likely political wrangling in the US Senate over Souter's successor, it is possible a new judge may not be ready by the time the Supreme Court reconvenes in October.

Neither Souter nor the Supreme Court offered comment on the retirement reports.

Rumors over Souter's possible retirement began in recent days after he reportedly failed to hire new clerks for October's new term -- something all the other justices have done by now.

NPR confirmed that Souter, who is younger than four of the other justices, is in good health, and is likely making the retirement decision for personal reasons -- to return to his former home state of New Hampshire.

That Souter would be the first judge to leave during Obama's presidency, however, is a surprise move -- observers expected 89-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens or Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 76, who is undergoing chemotherapy and recovering from pancreatic cancer surgery, to step down before anyone else.

President George HW Bush appointed Souter, a former appeals court judge, to the bench in 1990.