Over the weekend,Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away.
Appointing a replacement would usually be boring.
The Court is also perfectly split ideologically.
This is ahugepolitical battle.
Heres what it all means.
Asthe New York Times points out, this process typically takes only a few months.
However, if a nominee is rejected, the process can take a lot longer.
While prolonged vacancies are rare, it has happened a few times.
That distinction is particularly important now, as Scalia wasone of the Supreme Courts most conservative judges.
More importantly, with the inclusion of Scalia, the Supreme Court generally leaned conservative.
While this is all very difficult to quantify, the result is that the Supreme Court generallyleaned conservative.
In fact, the Supreme Court has leaned conservativesince the mid-60s.
With Scalias seat empty, the Court is almost perfectly divided ideologically.
However, this rule is appliedwith wild inconsistency.
In that instance,the nomination failed.
However that vacancy was due to a justice retiring, not the death of a justice.
That distinction could have a significant impact on how this process plays out.
However, when there are only eight justices, the court doesnt just stop hearing cases.
This has a wide variety of political and social consequences.
This case challenges a Texas law that shut down half of the states abortion clinics.
The difference between these two interpretations can have a significant impact on elections for state congresses.
you could read more cases that are of immediate concernover at Vox.
AsThe Washington Post points out, while the Supreme Court is relatively evenly split, the thirteenU.S.
Courts of Appeals(just below the Supreme Court) are not so balanced.
Nine of the thirteen courts are made up primarily of Democratic nominees.
Theres also the indirect consequence of leaving the seat vacant to consider.
Not only are we electing a new President, but34 Senate seats are up for re-election.
Of those, nine are close enough races that they may switch sides in the election.
Six of those seats belong to Republicans.
The power struggle between both political parties has high enough stakes that the debate is likely to get heated.
Check outthis handy toolto get information on your senators.
