This morning, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead at a ranch he was visiting in Texas.
Frankly, I’m reeling.
There’s a sort of strange thing that happens when you move to the DC area. You begin to realize that the kind of people you’ve only heard about on the news or seen on TV are a part of your world now. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gone to Mass with Rick Santorum, Pat Buchanan, Justice Clarence Thomas, or Justice Antonin Scalia.
Scalia, like Buchanan, was someone I only ever saw at the Traditional Latin Mass. (His son, Fr. Paul Scalia, is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington and our Vicar for Clergy.)
I didn’t know Justice Scalia — I never had the nerve to introduce myself to him — but I have always admired and respected him. His dissent on Planned Parenthood vs. Casey is probably the only Supreme Court decision I’ve ever read, and it really left an impression on me. He was, in my opinion, the best man on the court — and the most stalwart guardian of true justice in America.
His role on the court was so pivotal that his loss, especially in an election year, will have repercussions for our entire country that we cannot ignore.
But first, we grieve the loss of a good man and life-long public servant. First, we mourn with his family — his wife Maureen and their nine children — and as a nation.
Please join us in praying for the repose of his soul.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord…
Steve Skojec is the Founding Publisher of OnePeterFive.com. He received his BA in Communications and Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2001. His commentary has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Crisis Magazine, EWTN, Huffington Post Live, The Fox News Channel, Foreign Policy, and the BBC. Steve and his wife Jamie have eight children. You can find more of his writing at his Substack, The Skojec File.
and let Perpetual Light shine upon him.
May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace.
Steve, read Scalia’s dissent in Lawrence v Texas and then his dissent from last summer in Obergefell.
About ten years ago, Justice Scalia came out with a collection of his
more memorable dissenting opinions, titled (appropriately enough)
Scalia Dissents. While a collection of Supreme Court dissenting
opinions sounds like it might be a cure for insomnia, in the hands of
the late Justice this book is riveting, witty, and incisive. We have lost
a great legal mind today.
I checked and there are copies of his book available on Amazon. Just
sayin’.
Thank you for that. I just placed my order. Rest in peace, Justice Scalia. You will be terribly, terribly missed.
Thanks for this heads-up, Clinton. I ordered the Kindle edition ($15.37), of which there should be an infinite number of copies.
There is a collector’s edition (leather-bound, dark green with a custom gold design; on acid-free paper – $59.99); hardcover new from Amazon ($20.92); 24 “used and new” from other-than-Amazon vendors (from $13.82).
What I find most disturbing is that Obama said there would be no autopsy. Think about it, they now have a chance to bring in a replacement that makes that court the most leftist than ever….so I would not be surprised to learn if they had taken an autopsy, perhaps….
And no, I would not put anything past this admin….they obviously detest/hate anyone who is conservative or even independent….this great man was the last honest man on the court….so enquiring minds would like to know why no autopsy!!!!
Such a great loss for our country. May he be now resting in the bosom of His Father for upholding His laws…………
Sorry, but I also find his death highly suspicious. When my brother passed away several year’s ago, even though he had a massive stroke, we in the family, still had an autopsy performed to find out the “EXACT” cause of death. Justice Scalia apparently died in a hotel?? Dose that not bring up “red flags!!!”
He did not die in a “hotel”. He died in a private bed and breakfast.
If you smothered someone, would you leave the pillow over their head?
I don’t believe President Obama makes the call re: an autopsy. That is the decision of
the family.
Justice Scalia was 79- people do die of natural causes at that age. He may have had health problems the public did not know about.
Sudden death is always upsetting, but let’s not make this worse than it is.
Heard an hour ago that he didn’t die of a heart attack, so that’s ruled out
Drudge is reporting Supreme Court Justice Scalia was found with a pillow over his head!
It is jarring whenever we lose a good man like this in any position of authority; there are so few of them left in public life. Although the effort will probably fail, we must fight on and try to hold the line by stanching the gaping hole left by Justice Scalia’s death. This morning I wrote to my Republican senator (a RINO) and, citing the anger among party members evinced by last week’s NH primary, urged her to resist Obama’s attempt to replace Scalia with another mediocrity like Sotomayor or Kagan. I told her that a determined stand among Senate Republicans would go a long way toward reconciling Republican senators with the GOP rank and file. Regardless of how the thing turns out, though, the angst caused by Scalia’s death highlights a terrible truth about the US, viz. that it ceased long ago to be a democratic republic and has become a judicial tyranny. Our Constitution has become a standing joke, something that only means what five judges say it means, regardless of the words that go to make it up.