I'm saddened to learn of the unexpected passing of Justice Scalia, as reported in the Washington Post.
There are all sorts of points of disagreement one has with anyone on issues of public policy, but if we allow that to interfere with basic friendship and admiration, how many friends would you have left? I didn't have the privilege of knowing Justice Scalia personally, but admired him.
There are positions that Justice Scalia has taken that I've admired a great deal.
He opposed the use of hearsay in criminal cases where the accused had no opportunity to test the testimony through cross-examination and the inevitable further investigation of what may have been revealed, in the Crawford v. Washington case mentioned in the news report, above.
He was a strong defender of freedom of expression; some might say too strong when it came to the right of corporations to "speak" by contributing to partisan political campaign war chests.
I have trouble with his, or anyone's "originalism."
But I've always admired the mind of Justice Scalia.
So, yes, I'm sad.
As his close friend, Ruth Bader Ginsburg put it, "I love him, but sometimes I'd like to strangle him."
People want to strangle us, sometimes, as well, wouldn't you agree?
Sympathy and condolences to the family, friends and admirers of Justice Scalia.
Now, there will be a process to fill the vacancy left on the Court, always an edifying exercise in democracy at its finest, but hey, a vote on the top court in the land is worth fighting over.
Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker, (R.-KY) is reported as saying that he will not allow a nomination for a replacement, should Pres. Obama opt to provide one, to be considered by the Senate, an essential pre-requisite to confirmation, to be voted upon until after the next presidential election in November of this year, 2016. "Let the people have their say," is what I recall him saying, meaning, "Take that Pres. Obama, don't get your hopes up to appoint a liberal Democrat to fill the seat of a conservative Republican."
However, tuning into the latest news, Pres. Obama has announced that he will, indeed, submit to the Senate a nomination to fill the vacancy; so the game is on.
The Romans had their troubles filling vacancies as well, but were a lot less polite about such matters.
A friend of mine, Italo-American, from Northern Italy by descent, once referred to Justice Scalia as "the Sicialian justice."
Not all "Italians" regard "Sicilians" as "Italian." I've heard worse in North Beach, San Francisco's "Little Italy."
Sicily, the island off the toe of the boot of the Italian Peninsula, was settled originally by the ancient Greeks, as in shorter, darker, smarter (?) than the sometimes taller, blonder, even more violent Northern Italians. Barbarian hordes, you may recall, Ancient Rome era...
Let us not forget our history when discussing the progeny of the ancient world.
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Dahlia Lithwick, excellent Supreme Court writer, for Slate, offers this provisional list of possible nominees. It's the first I've seen, so far.
I'm not sure who will be looking forward to being what may turn out to be a sacrificial lamb to knives-out politicking.
Kamala Harris, the California A-G and former District Attorney of San Francisco, makes the list. She's a gutsy prosecutor who, as A-G, took on the banks and won, big time.
A most interesting choice.
I'd like to see it happen.
Not sure I'd want to drop the heavy process upon her...
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