So shocking and so sad: "Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court justice, dies at 79"

My otherwise calm afternoon of watching college basketball and trying to work on a death penalty article took a shocking turn when I heard this news: "U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a leading conservative voice on the high court, has died at the age of 79."  Here is more via CNN about how Justice Scalia died and some context for this sad and shocking news:

Scalia died in his sleep during a visit to Texas. A government official said Scalia went to bed Friday night and told friends he wasn't feeling well. Saturday morning, he didn't get up for breakfast. And the group he was with for a hunting trip left without him. Someone at the ranch went in to check on him and found him unresponsive....

In a statement, Chief Justice John Roberts said he and other justices were "saddened" to hear of Scalia's passing. "He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues," Roberts said. "His passing is a great loss to the court and the country he so loyally served. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife Maureen and his family."

Deputy White House Press Secretary Eric Schultz said President Barack Obama was informed of Scalia's passing on Saturday afternoon. "The President and First Lady extend their deepest condolences to Justice Scalia's family. We'll have additional reaction from the President later today," Schultz said.

Scalia's death in an election year sets up a titanic confirmation tussle over his successor on the bench. The already challenging task of getting a Democratic president's nominee through a Republican-controlled Senate will made even more difficult as the fight over Scalia's replacement will emerge as a dominant theme of an already wild presidential election.

"His departure leaves a huge political fight in the offing because this is a court with five Republican appointees (and) four Democratic appointees," CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin said....

He will be best known, perhaps, for his landmark decision District of Columbia v. Heller, holding that the Second Amendment protects the right to posses a firearm at home. He was a critic of Roe v. Wade and dissented in last term's same-sex marriage cases....

The jaunty jurist was able to light up, or ignite, a room with his often brash demeanor and wicked sense of humor, grounded always in a profound respect for American law and its constitutional traditions. "What can I say," was a favorite phrase of the man colleagues knew as "Nino." As it turned out, quite a lot. "Justice Scalia had an irrepressibly pugnacious personality," said Edward Lazarus, a former Supreme Clerk law clerk who wrote about the experience in "Closed Chambers."

A sharp mind combined with a sharp pen allowed Scalia to make his point, both to the pleasure and disappointment of his colleagues and the public. "He could be belligerent, he was obviously very candid about he felt about things," said Joan Biskupic, a USA Today reporter who wrote a biography of Scalia. "He loved to call it as he saw it, completely not politically correct. In fact, he prided himself on not being PC on the bench in court."

There are so many timely and important jurisprudential and political issues that are now kicking around my head, but they can all wait for posts later this weekend. For now, though, I will just express my own sadness at the loss of an intellectual and judicial giant.  I did not agree with all his views and opinion (though his work on sentencing issues always impressed me), but I always respected and appreciated his efforts and energies.