WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – A source close to Scalia told the KVIA affiliate of ABC News that the senior associate judge died in his sleep late Friday after a day of quail hunting at a ranch outside the western city of Marfa.
Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts confirmed on Saturday the death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.
“On behalf of the Court and retired Justices, I am saddened to report that our colleague Justice Antonin Scalia has passed away,” Roberts said in a statement.
Scalia was an “extraordinary individualist and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues,” the chief justice noted.
“His passing is a great loss to the Court and the country he so loyally served,” Roberts said.
US President Barack Obama, who extended his condolences to Scalia’s family minutes earlier, is due to nominate a replacement candidate for the US Senate to debate and confirm.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, in extending condolences on Scalia’s death, named him a "legal giant who steered the Supreme Court onto the Constitution."
Scalia was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and was the longest serving justice to date.
