On Saturday, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed
away unexpectedly while on a trip to Texas. Justice Scalia, who was the
longest-serving member on the bench at the time of his death, was appointed by
President Ronald Reagan and confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate in 1986.
Not surprisingly, the conservative justice’s death has been highly politicized,
particularly in the context of what Scalia’s vote on an upcoming birth control
case could have meant for President Obama’s health care law and women’s health
issues in general.