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Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's casket in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court on Friday.(Photo: JACQUELYN MARTIN / POOL, EPA)
WASHINGTON —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Forever combative about the law, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will be remembered<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Saturday as a man whose deeply held religious faith brought<span style="color: Red;">*</span>him peace.
USA TODAY
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Rather than a star-studded funeral service featuring judges and politicians, Scalia's sendoff at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the largest Roman Catholic church in North America —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>will be<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a traditional Mass of Catholic Burial befitting a true believer.
His son, the Rev. Paul Scalia, episcopal vicar for clergy of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, will lead the service, assisted by the archbishop of Washington, D.C., and a representative of the Vatican. Justice Clarence Thomas, Scalia's partner on the bench, and Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society, will contribute<span style="color: Red;">*</span>readings.
Hundreds if not thousands of Scalia's devoted fans -—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>his expansive family, current and former Supreme Court justices, nearly 100 former law clerks and guests, including Vice President Biden and his wife, Jill —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>were expected to fill the medieval-style church for the service.
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)
The court's longest-serving justice was a month shy of his 80th birthday when he was found dead last Saturday during a visit to a West Texas ranch. His death has touched off a harsh debate between the White House and Senate Republicans over President Obama's right to nominate a successor in the waning days of his presidency and the Senate's right to ignore or defeat that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>nominee.
USA TODAY
Justice Scalia found dead at Texas ranch
That battle will resume following Scalia's public funeral and private burial today. The president, who paid respects Friday as the late justice lied in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court, later was seen carrying a binder with information about potential nominees for weekend reading. Sunday's weekly news shows will reignite the debate amid talk of the South Carolina and Nevada presidential primaries.
For Scalia's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>extended family and followers, however, Saturday loomed as a day to say goodbye to the man who was for many<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the leader among conservative legal scholars. His defense of originalism —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reading the Constitution literally, not expansively —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and textualism —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reading government statutes the same way —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>changed the way cases were debated and, in some cases at least, won or lost.
The 79-year-old justice also will be remembered as one of the most gifted writers in the court's history, and a fierce debater from the bench who changed the nature of oral arguments. His many lectures, speeches and interviews helped to educate and energize younger generations of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>conservative legal thinkers who will carry on his legacy.
"But the souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and no torment will ever touch them," one of Saturday's Bible readings says. "In the eyes of the foolish, they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be an affliction, and their going from us to be their<span style="color: Red;">*</span>destruction;<span style="color: Red;">*</span>but they are at peace.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>For though in the sight of men they were punished, their hope is full of immortality."
Justice Antonin Scalia at a White House swearing-in ceremony in 2006.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: RON EDMONDS, AP)
USA TODAY
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