Answers to your questions about what's next for the Supreme Court
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead at a Texas ranch Saturday morning, kicking off a fierce battle over the future of the high court. Here's a look at the influential justice and what his sudden death means for America.
Who was Antonin Scalia?
The 79-year-old was the longest-serving justice on the Supreme Court, the loquacious leader of its conservative bloc and a force in American life for three decades. Scalia's sharp intellect and acerbic opinions made him a hero to conservatives and a target for liberals.
The man: Scalia enjoyed baseball, poker, hunting and the piano. He smoked cigarettes and pipes, He was an enthusiastic singer at court Christmas parties.
The justice: There was perhaps no Supreme Court justice known more for his biting opinions. Like this, on the Obamacare ruling: "We should start calling this law SCOTUScare." Here's a sampling of some of his most notable dissents.
The friend: He had a close friendship with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who once said Scalia was “an absolutely charming man, and he can make even the most sober judge laugh.”
Timeline: Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia's life
Antonin Scalia left us wisdom in dissent: Glenn Reynolds
What happens now?
A battle over his replacement, which may not end until 2017 after a new president is sworn into office.
President Obama says: He will attempt to fill the vacancy. "I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time," he said.
Republicans say: Leave it alone. They claim it would be wrong for a liberal Democratic president to get to replace a conservative nominee of President Ronald Reagan during his final year in office. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, said the nomination should fall to the next president.
Democrats say: It's outrageous to wait. Sen. Harry Reid, the chamber’s top Democrat, says it would be “unprecedented in recent history” for the court to have a vacancy for a year.
Who could replace him?
One name heads that list: Federal appeals court Judge Sri Srinivasan, who Obama put on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. That's the traditional stepping-stone to the Supreme Court, and Srinivasan won unanimous confirmation with high praise from Republicans. Here are nine other possibilities.
What's the Supreme Court going to do in the meantime?
Keep working. The high court has lost its conservative majority. That raises the possibility of frequent ties on cases that would have gone conservatives' way, 5-4, with Scalia on the bench. In those cases, the court's ruling will uphold that of the lower court, but without nationwide precedent. Without a replacement, the court will limp along with eight justices, risking deadlocks on important issues such as abortion (which comes up for oral argument next month) and immigration (which will follow in April), not to mention cases already heard on affirmative action, voting rights and public employee unions.
How common is the death of a Supreme Court justice while in office?
Scalia's death represents only the third time in more than 50 years that a Supreme Court justice has died while still in office. In 2005, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist passed away at age 81. Before that, the last justice to meet the same fate was Robert Jackson in 1954.
Contributing: Associated Press