Tribute to Justice Antonio Scalia of the US Supreme Court

On Saturday, February 13, 2016, the US judiciary, and the entire, nation lost one of the most highly respected justices of the Supreme Court, regarded by many as a fierce intellectual force of the right wing in the Supreme Court.  His departure and consequent replacement has sparked fierce debate amongst the conservatives and liberals in that country. 

The conservatives have called upon President Obama to refrain from nominating a new justice to replace Justice Scalia for fear that he will replace him with a liberal justice who may tilt the balance of the US Supreme Court jurisprudence – on major constitutional issues – to the left.  These forces argue that the tradition in the US is that a lame duck President – a president who is on his way out, should not nominate a new justice in the dying days of his tenure.