By Steven Ertelt
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead on Saturday morning. Scalia is one of the minority of judges on the nation’s highest court who is pro-life and supports overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that allowed virtually unlimited abortions.
“I am saddened to report that our colleague Justice Antonin Scalia has passed away,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement Saturday afternoon. “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.”
Here’s more on Scalia’s passing:
Scalia, 79, was a guest at the resort in West Texas, the Cibolo Creek Ranch, reportedly as part of a private group of about 40 people. When he didn’t appear for breakfast Saturday, someone went to his room to check on him and found a body.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement extending condolences to Scalia’s family. He called the justice “the solid rock who turned away so many attempts to depart from and distort the Constitution.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a 2016 Republican presidential hopeful and himself a former clerk on the Supreme Court, posted a statement on Facebook mourning the death of “one of the greatest Justices in history.” Cruz said, “A champion of our liberties and a stalwart defender of the Constitution, he will go down as one of the few Justices who single-handedly changed the course of legal history.”
“My reaction is it’s very unfortunate,” Biery told the newspaper. “It’s unfortunate with any death, and politically in the presidential cycle we’re in, my educated guess is nothing will happen until the next president is elected.”
President Obama could nominate a candidate to fill the vacancy, but winning confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate in an election year would be difficult. The opening undoubtedly will fuel at debate in the presidential campaign about the importance of choosing his successor on a closely divided court.
The communications director for Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, a member of the Judiciary Committee, posted a tweet that said the chances of the Senate approving Obama’s appointment was “less than zero.”
Article continues: http://www.lifenews.com/2016/02/13/
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