U.S. Supreme Court
Feb. 18, 2016
An empty seat on the court
Unsurprisingly, the intense political fight over Justice Antonin Scalia's successor began within hours of his death.
Erwin Chemerinsky
Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law
UC Berkeley School of Law
Erwin's most recent book is "Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism." He is also the author of "Closing the Courthouse," (Yale University Press 2017).
Within hours of Justice Antonin Scalia's death, the intense political fight over his successor began. This is not surprising. Replacing Scalia with a liberal justice could create a majority to overrule recent decisions on gun rights and campaign finance, and secure a majority to uphold abortion rights and affirmative action. This could mean an additional progressive on the U.S. Supreme Court for decades to come.
Not surprisingly, Republicans, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McCo...
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