Antonin Scalia is Dead

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, arguably the most conservative justice on the Supreme Court, was found dead at a Texas luxury resort.

I didn't agree with Scalia about much but there was no denying the man's towering intellect. He's been a fixture on the court and was the longest serving justice. He was appointed to the court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan.

Good grief, 1986. That's a while ago.

Now the fun begins. Obama has to figure out how to get a Supreme Court nominee through a Republican senate that probably isn't going to be in any mood to cooperate.

He's got to find someone that isn't considered a firebrand liberal but can be relied upon to approach cases with an eye towards what makes sense in a modern world.

Scalia was something of a hypocrite. When it suited him he would argue for the expansion of broad generalities in the Constitution such as in the Hobby Lobby case and Citizens United. He found reasons to approve conservative positions.

On the other hand, in order to avoid progressive advances, he argued for a static Constitution frozen in the 18th century.

It should be interesting to see how Obama approaches this one. It is clearly critical that a new justice be appointed before the next election.