Political differences aside, many Americans mourned the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, who unexpectedly passed away on February 13th. President Obama referred to him as “a brilliant legal mind,” and GOP presidential candidates held a moment of silence for him at their debate that night. Scalia’s future replacement has been a large topic of conversation since then — who will take his seat in the Supreme Court, and who will be the one to appoint him or her? These questions point to a larger matter as they highlight the major significance of Justice Scalia’s death.
Let’s start with a brief overview of US Government: the Supreme Court is made up of nine justices, one chief justice and eight associate justices. Unless the justices want to retire or they’re impeached from the Court (this has only happened once), justices serve their terms for life. Remember that, it becomes important later.Â
For the past 45 years, the Supreme Court has been more conservative in its rulings, with 5 out of the 9 justices voting conservative at least 50% of the time. Scalia, a staunch Republican, was one of these justices. Having been appointed by President Reagan in 1986, Scalia had been the longest serving justice on the current Supreme Court, and his rulings have made a large impact in America. Had a more liberal justice been in his seat, some Supreme Court cases would have turned out quite differently, thus drastically changing society. A few of these cases include:
McCleskey v. Kemp (1987): Scalia was part of the 5-4 ruling that invalidated statistical evidence of racial discrimination in the death penalty for individual sentencing.Â
Citizens United v. FEC (2010): In another 5-4 ruling, the Court significantly altered the U.S. political system by allowing individuals and corporations to supply unlimited funds towards campaigns.
Obergefell v. Hodges (2015): A 5-4 decision led to the legalization of same-sex marriage. Scalia was on the opposing side.
These cases demonstrate why Scalia’s replacement matters: there is a major difference between having a conservative or liberal justice. One vote really can change everything.
But there are a few obstacles standing in the way of a new justice being appointed. For one, many conservative politicians believe the future president should be the one to pick America’s Next Top Justice. However, Article 2 Section 2 of the Constitution states that the sitting president — in this case, President Obama — has the responsibility to appoint the new justice. Once the president chooses a justice, it is up to the Senate to approve him or her — which Senate Republicans have recently vowed not to do. Politics, am I right?
With the current vacant seat in the Supreme Court, power has evened out. Four of the justices usually vote liberal, while the other four tend to vote more conservative. This strongly impacts the upcoming cases the Supreme Court will deal with such as the abortion case known as Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, an immigration case called United States v. Texas, and more cases regarding birth control, unions, and climate change. (To read more about them, click here). Without Scalia’s conservative vote, there may possibly be a more liberal shift in the court’s rulings for the first time in 45 years.
Whether your political beliefs align left, right, smack-dab in the middle, or maybe you just don’t care (you really made it this far into the article without caring?), there is no doubt that Scalia’s death marks a major turning point in American politics. Remember the whole justices-serve-for-life thing? No matter who chooses the next Supreme Court justice, he or she will be serving the American public for a long time, and their rulings will affect the lives of many. This is why Scalia’s replacement is so important.
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