Attorney General Loretta Lynch is President Barack Obama's likely candidate to replace the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court – and could pose a challenge for a GOP-controlled Senate seemingly intent on blocking any pick, one analyst predicts.

SCOTUSblog author Tom Goldstein writes he had earlier thought Ninth Circuit Judge Paul Watford would be at the top of Obama's shortlist of high court candidates.

"On reflection, I think that Attorney General Loretta Lynch is more likely," he writes. "I also think that the Republicans will eventually permit the nomination to proceed on the merits and reject it on party lines."

Goldstein argues GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas will be a key figure when the debate hits the Upper Chamber because he "will drive enormous pressure against proceeding with any nomination."

Still, Goldstein points out, rejecting Lynch as the choice to fill the seat left by the death Saturday of the revered conservative Scalia poses a problem for Republicans on two fronts.

"Her history as a career prosecutor makes it very difficult to paint her as excessively liberal," he writes, adding: "I think the administration would relish the prospect of Republicans either refusing to give Lynch a vote or seeming to treat her unfairly in the confirmation process. Either eventuality would motivate both black and women voters."

Originally posted by airforce:
I generally don't believe conspiracy theories, and I don't believe this one. The family doesn't want an autopsy, and Justice Scalia wanted his remains to be cremated. In my opinion, their wishes should be respected, even if that is a little inconvenient for the rest of us.

Onward and upward,
airforce

...The new (1983) stipulates, "The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying the dead be observed; it does not, however, forbid cremation unless it has been chosen for reasons which are contrary to Christian teaching" (No. 1176, 3). Therefore, a person may choose to be cremated if he has the right intention. However, the cremated remains must be treated with respect and should be interred in a grave or columbarium.

A pastoral problem occurs concerning the funeral Mass itself. The cremated remains can not be present during the vigil or wake service, or during the Mass, since the regular liturgical prayers and actions are designed to honor the body. The body best reminds us of that person who entered a new life at baptism, becoming a "Temple of the Lord," and has now gone, we hope and pray, to the fulfillment of that life and eternal rest. On the other hand, ashes remind us of the corruptibility of the deceased.

As a priest, I believe that the entire Catholic funeral liturgy—the vigil service, the Mass of Christian Burial and the Final Committal and Burial—offers to us a great reminder of our faith and aids in our healing. The death of someone we love is always hard to face; however, there is something good and comforting when we gather as a faith community in the presence of our Lord and the body of the deceased, and offer that loved one back to God. Unfortunately, on more than one occasion I have dealt with families who have had the deceased loved one cremated, and later regretted the action, even feeling great guilt. I always recommend for people who want to be cremated or want to have their deceased loved one cremated that they do so after the funeral Mass and then inter the remains properly.

Top Senate Republicans vowed Wednesday to continue blocking President Obama’s nomination to the Supreme Court ahead of November’s presidential election, even if Obama chooses the Republican governor of Nevada to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Brian Sandoval, a centrist former federal judge who has served as governor since 2011, is among the Supreme Court candidates under White House consideration, according to two people familiar with the selection process. Some key Democrats view Sandoval as perhaps the only nominee President Obama could select who would be able to break a Republican blockade in the Senate.

But after The Washington Post published news of Sandoval’s consideration Wednesday, GOP leaders insisted that Obama nominating a Republican would make no difference.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who pledged “no action” on any Supreme Court nomination before November’s election on Tuesday, said in a statement that the nominee “will be determined by whoever wins the presidency in the fall.”

The No. 2 Senate Republican leader, Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, said likewise: “This is not about the personality.”

White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday he would not comment specifically on whether the administration was considering Sandoval because he did not want “to get into a rhythm of responding” to every report on a potential nominee. But he said that Obama was committed to finding “the best person to fill the vacancy at the Supreme Court,” regardless of party....

Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday broke his 10-year streak of not asking questions during oral arguments, one of the public’s most enduring curiosities about the Supreme Court.

Thomas stunned the courtroom by speaking up during a (relatively) low-profile case involving a federal law that bans people convincted of domestic violence from owning a gun. Thomas asked whether conviction for breaking any other law suspends a person’s constitutional rights.

Thomas stopped Assistant Solicitor General Ilana H. Eisenstein just as she was about to stop presenting her case.

“Ms. Eisenstein, just one question,” Thomas said.

“Can you give me — this is a misdemeanor violation. It suspends a constitutional right. Can you give me another area where a misdemeanor violation suspends a constitutional right?” He then went on to ask a number of follow-up questions.

The content of the Thomas inquiry was of less interest than it having happened at all.

Thomas last asked a question in court Feb. 22, 2006. His participation Monday might have been influenced by the death of his closest ally on the court, Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia died Feb. 13.

Scalia was one of the court’s most aggressive questioners.

Thomas has given several reasons over the years for not asking questions. He has said that his colleagues ask too many, for instance, and that oral arguments should be a time for lawyers to present their cases....

Originally posted by Texas Resistance:
That is a real good question. A misdemeanor assault family violence conviction should not revoke the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. It is just another ploy to ban gun ownership and to destroy families. The feds pay attorneys in many counties just to prosecute assault family violence cases. Militias have no obligation to do background checks on militiamen.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch has asked the White House not to consider her for the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death last month of Justice Antonin Scalia, a Justice Department spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"As the conversation around the Supreme Court vacancy progressed, the Attorney General determined that the limitations inherent in the nomination process would curtail her effectiveness in her current role. Given the urgent issues before the Department of Justice, she asked not to be considered for the position," Justice spokeswoman Melanie Newman said in a statement....