Antonin Scalia 1936-2016

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has died, apparently of natural causes, while at a resort ranch in Texas.   He had told friends he was not feeling well but was alone when he died in his hotel room.  He was the longest serving member of the current court, having been appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.

There is no question that the death of this one justice leaves control of the court hanging in the balance between conservative and liberal justices.  With four of each plus Justice Kennedy, who often casts the swing vote that determines outcomes of close cases, the replacement for Scalia could turn it into a reliable liberal majority of five.  That is, if President Obama names the replacement, which he has every legal right to do -- and has said he will do.

But conservatives have wasted no time (within minutes of the announcement of Scalioa's death) of demanding that the senate block any appointment by Obama, reserving the appointment for the next president.

Need we remind those conservatives that Obama is still the president for 11 more months?   It is a presidential duty to nominate members of the courts and a senate duty to "advise and consent," not to block every nomination.

Sam Stein, senior political editor for the Huffington Post, wrote: 

"The haste with which Scalia's death was reduced to a political battle was a bit alarming. But the tweets also underscore a pretty obvious reality that existed even before the news broke: in the last year of the Obama administration, congressional Republicans are pretty invested in just running out the clock. 

"What is perhaps more telling is the immense political importance that one man's death could have on our system of governance. Beyond the president, the death of a sitting justice on the U.S. Supreme Court has possibly the greatest ripple effects."

That is a very sobering fact.   We don't ordinarily consider SCOTUS as a political position;  but in such a polarized populace and political process, it cannot fail to come down to that.   And that fact itself gives even more urgent motivation to both political parties to have their nominee win the election to be the next president.

Much has been said about the next president's likely opportunity to appoint three or four members of SCOTUS.   Now one of those four has already departed, leaving a vacancy.

Ralph