A man who understood every word of the U.S. Constitution and applied them in their original context. The law does not follow the mood or attitude of the country, rather the country must follow the mood and the attitude of the Constitution.
Two Texas news sources, confirmed by CBS and Fox News, report the sad news that Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia is dead:
Scalia, 79, was a guest at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa.
According to a report, Scalia arrived at the ranch on Friday and attended a private party with about 40 people. When he did not appear for breakfast, a person associated with the ranch went to his room and found a body.
Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia, of the Western Judicial District of Texas, was notified about the death from the U.S. Marshals Service.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery said he was among those notified about Scalia’s death…
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement Saturday afternoon, calling Scalia a man of God, a patriot and an “unwavering defender of the written Constitution.”
“He was the solid rock who turned away so many attempts to depart from and distort the Constitution,” Abbott said. “We mourn his passing, and we pray that his successor on the Supreme Court will take his place as a champion for the written Constitution and the Rule of Law. Cecilia and I extend our deepest condolences to his family, and we will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”
Scalia was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan.
Here is an interview our own Peter Robinson did with Justice Scalia about three years ago:
NationalLawJournal: U.S Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the intellectual leader of the court’s conservative wing, is dead at age 79. According to official reports from Texas, he died overnight at a ranch in west Texas where he had gone quail hunting.
His sudden death came as he was about to mark his thirtieth year on the court; he is the longest-serving current member. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Scalia is the father of nine and a former law professor.
Scalia’s death sets up a major battle over his successor. Because of Scalia’s pivotal role on the court’s right wing, Republicans could block almost any nominee put forward by President Barack Obama. Scalia once said he would never retired during the tenure of any president whose nominee would try to dismantle his jurisprudence.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued a statement Saturday afternoon: “On behalf of the Court and retired Justices, I am saddened to report that our colleague Justice Antonin Scalia has passed away. 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.
Scalia was perhaps the court’s most bombastic and colorfulmember, with caustic dissents in some of the court’s most landmark decisions.
In the 2013 United States v. Windsor case, he dismissed the majority’s rationale for striking down the Defense of Marriage Act as “legal argle-bargle.” But his dissent proved prescient, forecasting the series of rulings that struck down state bans on same-sex marriage. “It is just a matter of listening and waiting for the other shoe,” Scalia wrote in his dissent.
Asked frequently about Bush v. Gore, the 2000 ruling that resolved the 2000 presidential election, Scalia would just say, “Get over it.”
God Bless You!