With the 2010 retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, Scalia became the longest-serving justice of the present Supreme Court, the New York Times reported. On the other side of the chief justice are Justices Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. Mr. Obama on Thursday called key Senate leaders, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, part of the customary consultation once considered essential to laying the groundwork for a warm reception for an eventual nominee.
Advertisement
According to the U.S. Constitution, the president nominates a candidate “by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate”.
This was technically a private ceremony, open only to the justices, their families and court personnel.
Maureen Scalia, the widow of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, is escorted as people line the steps of the Supreme Court Building. She said Scalia “believes in interpreting the law not making the law”.
The public viewing, which drew thousands of mourners Friday, was scheduled to be open until 8 p.m.
Since Scalia’s death last Saturday in Texas, the burning question in Washington has been who is populating President Obama’s short list of potential nominees to replace Scalia’s seat on the nation’s highest court.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s son Paul – a Catholic priest – recited traditional prayers over his father’s casket after it was placed in the Supreme Court’s Great Hall.
Justice Antonin Scalia lay in repose at the Supreme Court, where the eight remaining justices, family members, former law clerks and members of the public passed by his flag-draped coffin Friday to pay their respects. Some were red-eyed and brushed away tears.
“If there is one other name, one other judicial name associated with the two principal theories of this book, textualism and originalism, it is Frank Easterbrook”, Scalia said during the interview.
They were followed by a dozen honorary pallbearers – all former law clerks.
In a departure from tradition, the court’s current and former justices won’t be lining the marble steps outside the court as the casket is carried through the main entrance. The casket will rest on the Lincoln Catafalque, which first supported President Abraham Lincoln’s casket across the street in the U.S. Capitol in 1865.
The Supreme Court, which was often divided during Justice Antonin Scalia’s tenure, was united Friday in grief over his passing.
Advertisement
The Obamas, both dressed in black, walked slowly into the hall and stood by the casket – flanked by an honor guard of the justice’s former clerks -for about a minute. A 2007 portrait of Scalia by artist Nelson Shanks will be displayed nearby.
