The high-profile legal stature attained by late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia became a source of pride and vindication among Italian Americans who live in a nation that has long perpetuated stereotypes associating people of that nationality with organized crime, popularized by “The Godfather” movie trilogy.
Advertisement
At a news conference within hours of Scalia’s passing, according to Politico, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell retorted, “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice”, and therefore, “this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president”.
Scalia’s flag-draped casket was taken to the church from the Supreme Court, where more than 6,000 visitors, including Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, paid their respects Friday.
Justice Clarence Thomas read a passage from the New Testament’s Book of Romans. Reid, Charles Schumer, Patrick Leahy and then-senators Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John F. Kerry and Hillary Clinton – to vote to deny President George W. Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Samuel Alito, an up-or-down vote.
As an originalist, Scalia would be amused by this immediate reaction of both Republican Senate leaders and Republican presidential candidates.
Supreme Court nominees have been rejected before.
Scalia believed in the constitution, even if it came at odds with his parties beliefs, his career as a justice not only in the court but while he was in the district court of DC focused on just that, following and interpreting the constitution.
No one disputes the president’s authority to nominate a successor to Justice Scalia, but, as inconvenient as it may be for this president, the Constitution grants the Senate the power to provide, or as the case may be, withhold its consent.
Nina says “Scalia is only the fourth justice to die in office in the past 65 years, and there is no consistent pattern of presidential attendance at court funerals”. She used a photo of the late Justice reading to one of her sons as her profile picture on Facebook. Not all of these were confirmed but they were all granted hearings, which makes the situation all the more unprecedented and inexcusable.
Scalia was a devout Catholic and was the member of the Supreme Court most vocal about his religion.
Scalia regarded the founding of the United States as “a blessing – a blessing quickly lost when faith is banned from the public square or when we refuse to bring it there”, his son said.
Republicans worry that would upset the ideological balance of the court.
“As he put it later, ‘Like heck if I’m confessing to you, ‘ ” Paul Scalia said Saturday at his father’s funeral in Washington’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Advertisement
Justice Scalie, 79, died last week of reported natural causes.
