The NYT has an obituary of Senator Specter.  I had the pleasure to meet him once, when I testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he was chairing, about the constitutionality of section 5 of the Voting Rights Act as it came up for renewal in 2006. Other Republicans did not trust Specter as chair of the committee, believing he was too moderate (Specter later became a Democrat at the end of his career, after losing in the primary to Toomey.)  To keep his chairmanship, he had to hire a very conservative Judiciary staff, which he did.

I interacted with that staff as I and other liberal law professors were called by the committee to raise concerns about section 5’s constitutionality. It was awkward to say the least, but Sen. Specter was welcoming and put everyone at  ease.

My position was that the Supreme Court’s federalism jurisprudence was wrong, but under that jurisprudence there was a significant risk that section 5 would be struck down.  (That risk may soon materialize in the Shelby County case.)  Of all the questions I received from that committee, it was clear that only Specter was grappling with the constitutional issues.  The other Republicans were convinced section 5 was unconstitutional; the Democrats were convinced it was constitutional.  Specter was always searching for the truth, without grandstanding. He went his own way.  He spoke his mind.  We need more of that in the Senate today.

Rest in peace.