“We were best buddies,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in a tribute to her longtime friend, Justice Antonin Scalia. The two shared more than opposite political leanings; they shared international trips, family holidays and a mutual respect for one another, Vox explains. “…When I wrote for the Court and received a Scalia dissent, the opinion ultimately released was notably better than my initial circulation,” she wrote.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia did not specify a home for his official papers before his death, according to the National Law Journal (sub. req.). Preservation of such documents is not governed by any law, and Scalia’s family and Library of Congress have not commented on the fate of the files. Scalia’s papers could include writings on landmark cases from Bush v. Gore in 2000 to decisions that upheld the Affordable Care Act.

How do you break a Supreme Court tie? The Court’s 4-4 rulings will be knocked back down to the lower circuit courts that had previously ruled on the cases, and those prior rulings will stand. But Media General points out that accepted cases often follow opposing rulings from several circuit courts, so a 4-4 scenario could institute conflicting precedents in different regions. Justices may also postpone hearings until the court is back at full capacity.

U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker say the next Supreme Court Justice should be chosen by the next president and not by President Barack Obama. "Under our Constitution, the president has the right to nominate, but the Senate has the right to decide whether to consent at this point in a presidential election year,” Alexander said. The Commercial Appeal notes the two Tennessee Republicans have in the past argued Supreme Court nominees should not be subject to a filibuster, except in extraordinary circumstances. Obama said he will attempt to fill the vacancy following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. 

President Barack Obama said he will attempt to fill the Supreme Court vacancy within the last year of his presidency, despite Senate Republicans saying it is unlikely the nominee will be confirmed. NPR created a shortlist of potential nominees, including: Sri Srinivasan, a D.C. Circuit judge; Paul Watford, who was confirmed to the Ninth Circuit in 2012; and Patricia Ann Millett, who was confirmed to the D.C. Circuit Court in 2013. Presidential-hopeful Donald Trump announced his two potential nominees during the Republican debate Saturday: Judge Diane S. Sykes, a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Bill Pryor, former Alabama attorney general and a federal judge in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Law Newz reports.

"I think his legacy is about originalism," TBA President Bill Harbsion told The Tennessean when describing what he believes U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia will be remembered for. Scalia died suddenly Saturday. He was nominated to the court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan, was a vehement defender of the Constitution and leader of the court’s conservative bloc. While delivering the Constitution Day lecture at Rhodes College in Memphis last fall, Scalia argued against his fellow court members’ decision to overturn the ban on same-sex marriage. “He was a strong dissenter in our marriage case, but he had been on the court a very long time. I was sad to see that news [of his death],” said Harbison, who was part of the legal team in Obergefell v. Hodges. The Tennessean also talked to U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Vanderbilt law professor Brian Fitzpatrick, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and Attorney General Herbert Slatery.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily blocked President Barack Obama’s rules to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, CNN reports. The regulations are on hold while the rules are challenged in court by a mostly Republican-led lawsuit from 29 states along with suits from organizations and industry groups. The states question the legality of the regulations. The four liberal justices on the court dissented from the order.

It’s been nearly 10 years since U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas asked a question during oral arguments, the ABA Journal reports. His last question was on Feb. 22, 2006, in a death penalty case. His reason: “I think we should listen to lawyers who are arguing their cases, and I think we should allow the advocates to advocate,” he said in 2013 at a Harvard Law School appearance.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision will extend an earlier ruling from 2012 that struck down automatic life terms with no chance of parole for teenage killers, the Associated Press reports. The 6-3 ruling – in favor of a Louisiana man who was 17 when he killed a deputy – means more than 1,000 inmates will get a chance to seek their freedom. In dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia said the ruling "is just a devious way of eliminating life without parole for juvenile offenders."

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that businesses cannot stop a class-action lawsuit by offering to pay the full amount sought by the original plaintiff, The Hill reports. The 6-3 decision stems from a suit in which Jose Gomez said Detroit-based Campbell Ewald Co. violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act when it sent messages to young adults about the U.S. Navy. Chief Justice John Roberts filed a dissenting opinion.