The New York Times' Editorial Board's article "Justice Antonin Scalia's Supreme Court Legacy" was published on February 13, 2016, just hours after the conservative Supreme Court Justice passed away. After being appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1986, Scalia served for 30 years and was involved in some significant decisions, including upholding the second amendment right to bear arms in the District of Columbia v. Heller case. He was strongly opposed to some of the more progressive decisions the Supreme Court made during his time such as the decision to make it illegal to execute mentally disabled or teenage prisoners. His death comes at an unusual time, and Republicans in Congress are opposed to President Obama nominating the next justice. Despite this, Obama says that he will nominate one and that hopefully, Congress will give him or her a fair trial and a timely vote.
The Supreme Court is an incredibly important part of our government because the Judicial branch is the only part of the government that can decide whether things are unconstitutional. Over time, there have been many significant Supreme Court Justices like Scalia. For example, Justice John Marshall, who served as chief justice from 1801 to 1835, was influential in the Marbury v. Madison decision, which gave the Supreme Court the final judgement in legal matters and formed the foundation of judicial review. Earl Warren, another justice, outlawed segregation in schools in the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. It is possible that Scalia successor might be just as influential as his predecessors.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/13/opinion/justice-antonin-scalias-supreme-court-legacy.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-abc-region®ion=span-abc-region&WT.nav=span-abc-region&_r=0
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