"On February 13, 2016, Justice Antonin Scalia, the conservative intellectual anchor on the US Supreme Court, died unexpectedly while on a hunting trip in Texas. Attention immediately turned to President Barack Obama and how he would respond to a vacancy on the nation's highest court. Although Scalia was not a pivotal member of the Court by any means, his absence left behind a 4-4 balance in terms of justices appointed by Democratic presidents and those appointed by Republican ones. Obama's appointment of a liberal-leaning successor would immediately shift the balance of power on the Court toward a 5-4 liberal majority, possibly for decades"--

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