{UAH} Pojim:/WBK: War has broken out!!Scalia’s death plunges court, national politics into turmoil - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/scalias-death-plunges-court-national-politics-into-turmoil/2016/02/13/136c0590-d2a4-11e5-b2bc-988409ee911b_story.html?wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-politics%2Bnation

Scalia's death plunges court, national politics into turmoil

The death of Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday plunged the Supreme Court and the nation's politics into turmoil, and an immediate partisan battle began over whether President Obama should be allowed to nominate his successor.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement that the Senate controlled by his party should not confirm a replacement for Scalia until after the election.

"The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president," McConnell said.

But the battle lines were immediately apparent. Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) followed McConnell's statement with one of his own:

"It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacant seat," he said. "Failing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senate's most essential Constitutional responsibilities."

The U.S. Supreme Court lowered its flags to half staff on Feb. 13 in honor of Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away earlier that day. (Andrew Heining/The Washington Post)

[Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies at 79]

In a telephone interview Saturday night, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said, "The president has said he will send a nominee to the Senate."

Leahy joined Reid in saying that the court should not go a year without a full array of justices.

"The American people deserve to have a fully functioning Supreme Court," he said in a statement. "The Supreme Court of the United States is too important to our democracy for it to be understaffed for partisan reasons. It is only February. The President and the Senate should get to work without delay to nominate, consider and confirm the next justice to serve on the Supreme Court."

Scalia's shocking death also creates doubt about the outcome of a Supreme Court term that was filled with some of the most controversial issues facing the nation: abortion, affirmative action, the rights of religious objectors to the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act, and the president's powers on immigration and deportation.

An eight-member court could split on all of those issues.

Scalia, 79, was the current court's second-oldest and longest-serving justice, having joined in 1986. He was the cornerstone of the modern conservative legal establishment, known as a brilliant writer and an acerbic critic.

[Live updates: Reactions to Justice Scalia's death]

He died while on a hunting trip in Texas. The Supreme Court did not reveal the cause of death.

The Associated Press reported that Scalia died at a private residence in the Big Bend area of West Texas. Donna Sellers, the service's spokeswoman, said Scalia had retired for the evening and was found dead Saturday morning after he did not appear for breakfast.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. officially announced Scalia's death after it was reported by news outlets in Texas.

"On behalf of the court and retired justices, I am saddened to report that our colleague Justice Antonin Scalia has passed away," Roberts said in a statement.

"He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues. His passing is a great loss to the court and the country he so loyally served. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife Maureen and his family."

The White House issued a statement from principal deputy press secretary Eric Schultz: "This afternoon the President was informed of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The President and First Lady extend their deepest condolences to Justice Scalia's family. We'll have additional reaction from the President later today."

The fate of the many controversial issues before the court is unclear. If the court ties in deciding a case, the decision of the appeals court remains in place, without setting a nationwide precedent.

In the current cases, a tie vote would mean that the race-conscious admissions plan at the University of Texas would remain in place. And so would the abortion restrictions in that state that were upheld by an appeals court.

Likewise, Obama's plan to shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation would stay on hold, because that was the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

A decision on the contraceptive requirements in the health-care law would be more complicated in the event of a tie. Most appeals courts that have considered the issue have ruled for the Obama administration. But one went the other way.

Regardless of the Senate's action, a Republican Senate largely hostile to Obama would seem to limit the president's choices. One candidate often mentioned for the high court is U.S. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan, who was nominated by Obama and confirmed unanimously by the Senate in 2013.

But if Obama felt like a fight, a more liberal candidate might emerge.

Paul Kane contributed to this report.

Robert Barnes has been a Washington Post reporter and editor since 1987. He has covered the Supreme Court since November 2006.

Scalia's death plunges court, national politics into turmoil - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/scalias-death-plunges-court-national-politics-into-turmoil/2016/02/13/136c0590-d2a4-11e5-b2bc-988409ee911b_story.html?wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-politics%252Bnation

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