THE DEATH OF JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA
©Wendell
Griffen, 2016
Justice Is a Verb!
February 14,
2016
Justice
Antonin Scalia, the senior member of the Supreme Court of the United States,
died overnight on February 12-13, 2016. His
death is a terrible shock to his widow, their nine children, and grandchildren. We should consider their sorrow, first and
foremost, in the immediate aftermath of the passing of their spouse and
patriarch.
Justice
Scalia served on the Supreme Court for over thirty years at the time of his
death, longer than any of its other members.
He served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia before he was nominated by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by
the United States Senate for appointment to the Supreme Court. He taught law at the University of
Chicago, had worked in the U.S.
Department of Justice as a lawyer, and practiced law after finishing at the top
of his class at Harvard Law School.
Thus, his sudden death is also a loss for his colleagues and staff on
the Supreme Court, his other friends throughout the legal profession (both in
the judiciary and in legal education), and many other persons across the United
States.
Our
first obligation when a family suffers the death of a loved one should be to
comfort and assist sorrowing survivors.
Concern for the Scalia family should be the foremost concern of every
journalist and politician. We should
protect and comfort Mrs. Scalia, her children, and their children by giving
them time and space to absorb their loss.
We should behave as compassionate souls, not political scavengers.
Our
nation should respect the Scalia family enough to delay discussing and
undertaking the process of filling the Supreme Court vacancy until the Scalia
family has laid their loved one to rest.
Then, the people who swore to uphold the Constitution of the United
States should perform their official duties.
Now is not the time for political grandstanding.
The
reaction to Justice Scalia’s death by pundits in the news media and politicians
vying to succeed President Barack Obama is saddening. Media pundits and politicians made token
condolence comments yesterday. They
quickly, and more enthusiastically, then began speculating and arguing about
whether, when, and who President Obama should nominate to fill the vacancy on
the Supreme Court caused by Justice Scalia’s death. As a husband, father, pastor, and a judge, I
find that behavior offensive.
Article
II, Section 1 to the Constitution of the United States provides, at sub-section
8, that before anyone assumes the Office of President of the United States,
that person must take the following oath or affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will
faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to
the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the
United States.” President Barack Obama
has a sworn duty to nominate someone to fill the vacancy on the Supreme
Court. That duty is not debatable,
transferable, or negotiable; nor does it depend on the political makeup of the
United States Senate.
When
people in the military lose a comrade they close ranks and honor their fallen
member. Then, they carry out the duties
they swore to perform. It is dereliction
of duty to refuse to perform the duties of military service because one holds political
differences with other service personnel.
Yes,
2016 is an election year. Nevertheless, President
Obama has a constitutional duty to nominate a successor to Justice Scalia. The Senate has a constitutional duty to
consider and vote on confirmation of the nominee. Politicians who don’t know this truth are incompetent
about civics. Politicians who know this constitutional
truth but refuse to honor it are unethical.
However,
the work of choosing a nominee to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia and engaging
in confirmation politics is not a pressing matter now, nor was it a pressing
matter yesterday (February 13). The
contenders to succeed President Obama and the pundits who report and speculate
about politics know this is true.
Today,
February 14, 2016, is not a “Happy Valentine’s Day” for Mrs. Maureen Scalia,
her children, and their children. The
politicians and pundits who spent most of last night grandstanding and
posturing about the nomination and confirmation process for the successor to
Justice Scalia should have known this.
Sadly, those politicians and pundits appear to care more about their own
ambitions than they care about Justice Scalia’s family.
