Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death last Saturday turned from surprise to bitterness in the recent days as Republican party leaders said they would oppose any Supreme Court nomination made by President Barack Obama, suggesting instead the Democratic president wait out his term and let his successor make the appointment.
Locally, Knox College Professor Lane Sunderland weighs in, calling the process “relatively clear” as far as the Constitution is concerned.
“He clearly has the constitutional authority to appoint someone,” he says. “He doesn’t necessarily have to check with anybody before he does that, but a smart President does. Then, likewise, the Senate, for whatever reason, has pretty broad authority on whether they will confirm that justice or not.”
Sunderland is a professor of political science and a pre-law advisor in addition to serving as a Supreme Court fellow for more than 20 years and knowing Scalia personally.
He says he was “bulled over” when he heard the news of Scalia’s death. He described his friend’s jurisprudence as one of “judicial restraint and keeping the system open to democratic rule.”
The two first met on the night of Scalia’s confirmation as justice in 1986.
