Scalia's death will have real consequences in real people's lives.

Former Gov. Bob McDonald (R-VA) was convicted of corruption for accepting money and expensive gifts in exchange for using the power of the governor's office to promote the man's private business.  McDonald was sentenced to two years in jail.

The conviction was upheld by an appeals court.  McDonald then appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court, and SCOTUS accepted the case.  They could have just let the lower court decision stand, so at least four justices must have felt there is a good chance they will overturn it.  They went even further and voted to put the sentence on hold until they hear the case in April.   I think that would take five votes.  Justice Scalia almost surely was in that majority.

Now, with Scalia's death, the case will be heard and decided by eight justices.  It's possible that the court may end in a 4 to 4 tie, which would mean that the appeals court decision stands, and McDonald goes to jail.

It's possible that, with a cooperative senate, Scalia's replacement could still be seated before the April hearing.  Thus, it's conceivable that McDonald could go free.  Don't count on it, given the recalcitrance of the Republicans to even meeting with, much less confirming, an Obama nominee.

Another possibillity is that McDonald might have five votes anyway in the remaining eight.  We don't know.   But, if it was the usual 5 to 4 liberal-conservative split on the procedural vote (with Scalia), then McDonald now has to win one of the liberals in order to go free.  Scalia's vote could have meant the difference between jail and freedom for this former Republican governor.

The loss of Scalia's vote will result in other 4 to 4 ties in cases where the lower court decision will stand.  Some will thus end in outcomes that liberals favor, while others will result in conservative-pleasing outcomes -- the Texas abortion clinic case being one of those.  There the appeals court upheld the restrictive law that will close most of the facilities in Texas.

In such a situation, however, if a tie without Scalia favors conservative positions, then Scalia's vote would only have added to that.   At least, with a tie rather than a 5-4 ruling, it will apply only to the case heard;  it will not be generalized to all states, which leaves it open to another abortion clinic case being decided after a Democratic appointee joins the court and gives a liberal majority.

Ralph