Washington, D.C.

Written by Juliana Simone

The flag draped casket bearing the Supreme Court Justice Antonin Gregory Scalia, (Born March 11, 1936) considered to be the one person who understood The Constitution of the United States better than anyone, and a legal giant in his role in serving thirty years as a Justice, was carried up the stairs to the Supreme Court building this morning where it will lie in repose. Supreme Court police officers carried him to his resting place in the High Court. His fellow eight Justices, a hundred law clerks, grandchildren, and children, including his son, a Catholic Priest who led the mass, were present.

Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, serving thirty years as the first Italian-American Justice, and described as brilliant in terms of his depth of knowledge, Scalia was a considerable voice on the Supreme Court who continually held many conservative views. He supported the death penalty, upheld the second amendment and was pro-life, arguing there was no constitutional right to abortion. He believed states had the right to pass legislation on whether or not to permit abortion, but a devout Catholic, he tried regularly to persuade his colleagues to overturn Roe vs. Wade.

To review his voting record: https://ballotpedia.org/Antonin_Scalia

In terms of politics, Scalia also weighed in with the majority vote to put an end to the Bush Vs. Gore case deciding there should be no more recounts of “hanging chads, dimpled chads, etc.” the Gore campaign kept trying to sift through and count to make Gore win the Presidential election in 2000 in the state of Florida.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Scalia

Though his sudden death is an ongoing mystery that has brought expert analysts forward to examine the details of how he died, when he died, and why his death did not warrant an automatic autopsy before being immediately taken off of the premises and embalmed, there are many investigating today what may be a different story than the one presented to the press.

President Barack Hussein Obama has said he will not attend the funeral of this fine and revered Justice, which has been met with negative public review, but he and his wife did make a brief appearance today at the Supreme Court building ceremony where the Associate Justice Scalia was lying in state.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/02/19/supreme-court-justice-antonin-scalia-repose-funeral/80581572/

The lame duck President, who would be the first President in eighty years to try and appoint a new Supreme Court Justice, Obama still plans to do so regardless of history, citing it is his right under the Constitution. As a President who has cared little about the Constitution since first elected in 2008, it’s interesting he now uses this document to use it to his advantage. Unfortunately, for the sitting President, under the Constitution, Article II, a President can nominate anyone, (perceived as fit for the role or to their liking) but it is up to the U.S. Congress to accept any nominee. Therefore, without their consent or vote, the suggested nominee by the President will not be confirmed.

With so much at stake for the future of our country, the majority of Americans today would agree the new appointed Supreme Court Justice should be left to the newly-elected President in November. For Justice Scalia and the rest of the United States, let’s hope our next President will nominate someone who has the same clarity and soul to maintain his fine Constitutional record.

The casket of late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia arrives at the Supreme Court, where Scalia’s body will lie in repose in the court’s Great Hall in Washington on February 19, 2016, a day before his funeral service. Scalia died on February 13, 2016 at the age of 79. REUTERS/Gary Cameron – TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY – RTX27QLJ

Associate Justice Antonin Gregory Scalia had this to say in 2012 at a Living the Catholic Faith conference: “God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools … and he has not been disappointed. … If I have brought any message today, it is this: Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world.”

Update: Mourners for Justice Antonin Scalia will come together Saturday at the nation’s largest Catholic Church in Washington to pay their final respects. Justice Scalia’s sons and sons-in-law will carry his flag-draped casket in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for the funeral Mass this morning. Scalia has nine children, one who is a Reverend.

Dignitaries including former Vice President Dick Cheney, current Vice President Joe Biden, members of Congress and all eight of his colleagues, who are the sitting justices of the Supreme Court today will be in attendance. Justice Clarence Thomas plans to read from the New Testament, while Leonard Leo, executive director for a conservative legal group, The Federalist Society, will read a passage from the Old Testament.

Over six thousand people stood in line yesterday at the Supreme Court building for the opportunity to pass Justice Scalia’s casket and honor his memory as one of our nation’s foremost conservatives. It is notable that Scalia rested on a funeral bier that first held the casket of President Abraham Lincoln after he was assassinated in April of 1865.