NATION : Black Lawyer Praises Souter

WASHINGTON — A black lawyer friend of Judge David H. Souter today assured the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Supreme Court nominee is sensitive to the plight of minorities.

“I think he is fundamentally fair, lacking in prejudice,” said Wesley Williams Jr., a Washington attorney whose friendship with Souter dates to their days at Harvard.

During his three days of testimony, Souter had portrayed his home state of New Hampshire as free from discrimination. “This is an insensitive man that you are foisting upon us,” complained Joseph Rauh, general counsel to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, who pointed to examples of racism in the state.

But Williams said today that “David Souter understands. He has lived in the world” and seen the trouble in the minority community. “I think he’s prepared to do the right thing.”