Mourners pay respects to late Justice Antonin Scalia

The Republican reaction to Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia’s death this past weekend was swift and unified: They ruled out the very notion that any nominee put forth by Barack Obama would even be considered for the High Court.

Ted Cruz said Tuesday on the “Hugh Hewitt Show” that the best way to honor Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s legacy was to block attempts to undermine the Constitution.

In 1993, for example, Scalia joined us at Cato for an informal luncheon discussion where I asked him if the Court was ever going to revive the doctrine of enumerated powers as we’d been urging-the bedrock principle that Congress has only limited, enumerated powers, the rest belonging to the states or the people, as the Tenth Amendment says.

“I have one message for Senate Republicans”, Trumka said.

The group, the Judicial Crisis Network, says it is going to spend more than $1 million to run TV, radio and online ads, especially in swing states now represented by Republicans who are most likely to face a backlash for obstructing the Supreme Court.

The conservative Scalia “probably would have voted against (these orders)”, Medrano, of Santa Ana, said Wednesday following a forum on the issue presented by New America Media, a multi-media ethnic news agency, and Ready California, a collaborative working to ensure eligible Californians benefit from administrative relief from deportation. Senate Democrats strongly signaled opposition to a Bork nomination, but President Reagan nominated him anyway. “We urge those duly elected by the people to choose leadership over partisanship and take action to restore the Supreme Court to its full complement of nine justices as soon as possible”, stated President Rose. “And this will be the opportunity for senators to do their job”, said Obama. But with an extremely qualified candidate like Sri Srinivasan or Loretta Lynch – a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit or the U.S. Attorney General, respectively – this could be a landmark decision in which the legality of these restrictions are finally overturned.

Kagan was appointed by President Obama in 2010 to fill the seat of Justice John Paul Stevens. The November election, they argue, will give voters a chance to weigh in on the direction of the court.

Thomas Merrill, a law professor at Columbia University and a former deputy US solicitor general (1987-1990), said he’s been “a little bit skeptical” of the idea of term limits for Supreme Court justices.

Scalia will lie in repose on Friday at the Supreme Court where a public viewing will take place from 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m., following a private ceremony early Friday morning.

Justice Scalia loved quoting Shakespeare.

The Constitution does not say that presidents are limited in this duty by the timing of when a vacancy occurs. It’s a weird theory of politics that argues that an election that hasn’t happened yet carries more authority than the one that actually sent the president to the White House for a second term. If Republicans indicate they may hold hearings, Obama would have greater reason to name a “consensus candidate”, a moderate nominee who would be at least somewhat hard for Republicans to reject.

“And there are a whole hell of a lot of people who Republicans have already voted for who fall in that category, who we can like, in my opinion”.

Obama’s dilemma arises, in part, because of the unusual timing.

Supreme Court police officers will serve as pallbearers and Scalia’s law clerks will serve as honorary pallbearers. The significance of the Supreme Courts rulings and the importance of a single vote on the court can not be overstated — as we have seen play out recently with 5-to-4 rulings affecting our campaign finance laws, clean water and air policies, marriage equality and voting rights.