Earl Gilliam: Scalia a Supreme Court icon
The Feb. 14 news article “Conservative justice Scalia dies, 79” brought the shocking and sad news that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died.
Although very noticeably conservative in his views, both legal and personal, he was liked and respected by just about everyone, even his adversaries. He not only had a great legal mind, but he also had a great sense of humor. He could take important legal issues and bring them down to earth and make them understandable to the average person. Not everyone with his education and position could do that with the ease in which he could.
Ronald Reagan nominated him for the Supreme Court in 1986, and he was confirmed by a vote of 98-0. Now that’s a real vote of confidence by the U.S. Senate! Reagan made many great decisions during his presidency (and a few not so great), but his choice of Scalia for the Supreme Court was, perhaps, his greatest achievement.
Scalia was my favorite member of the U.S. Supreme Court, and he will be sorely missed.
Earl Gilliam
Apex
This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Earl Gilliam: Scalia a Supreme Court icon."