Tilting the Scales

On February 13th, US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away, radically altering the makeup of the America’s highest court and raising the stakes for the 2016 presidential election. Mr Scalia leaves behind a Court that would be almost unrecognizable as the one he joined when he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. His death also leaves the Court with the potential to hand down 4–4 ties. In such cases the ruling of the lower court is upheld in its own jurisdiction but sets no precedent for future cases or for the jurisdiction of other courts. Indeed, the Court has already ruled 4–4 in a number of cases since Mr Scalia’s death, most notably in a case concerning public sector unions in late March