MARFA, Texas – Senior U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead on a ranch in southwest Texas Saturday. A federal official who asked not to be identified told the San Antonio Express-News the justice, 79, died of natural causes.
According to reports, Scalia was a guest at Cibolo Creek Ranch, a luxury resort in the Big Bend region of the state. He arrived at the ranch and attended a private party Friday evening. A member of the ranch’s staff discovered Scalia’s body in his room the next morning after the justice failed to appear for breakfast.
Scalia, the most outspoken and conservative member of the court, was appointed to the bench in 1986 by then-President Ronald Reagan. In the intervening years, he became a lightning rod for controversy not only because of his role in contentious decisions and his acerbic style in written opinions, but also because of his public association with ultra-right-wing factions of the Republican Party. He was criticized for accepting paid speaking engagements at partisan events, openly mocking fellow justices for decisions with which he did not agree, and making racially insensitive remarks.
A staunch Catholic, Scalia sparked both cheers and concern in January when he labeled “absurd” the interpretation that the First Amendment establishes religious neutrality and purely secular law in the U.S.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a hardline, far-right Republican, was among the first to comment on Scalia’s passing, calling the justice “a man of God” and “a patriot.”
“He was the solid rock who turned away so many attempts to depart from and distort the Constitution,” Abbott said in a prepared statement. “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 [Abbott’s wife] and I extend our deepest condolences to his family, and we will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”
The court, too, mourned Scalia’s death.
“I am saddened to report that our colleague Justice Antonin Scalia has passed away,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement released Saturday afternoon. “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.”
A replacement for Scalia is unlikely to be appointed until after January 2017, when the 45th U.S. President takes office. Even were the current President willing to break with tradition and nominate a candidate during an election year, Republican leadership already has indicated an unwillingness even to consider a Democratic nominee, much less approve one.
“What is less than zero?” Conn Carroll, communications director for Sen. Mike Lee [R-Utah], posted to Twitter Saturday afternoon. “The chances of Obama successfully appointing a Supreme Court Justice to replace Scalia.”
Lee is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is tasked with recommending approval or rejection of judicial nominees.
