Thousands pay their respects to Scalia
Thousands file in to the Supreme Court’s Great Hall for somber ceremonies marking the death of Antonin Scalia, the conservative justice known for his sharppenned opinions.
WASHINGTON — Bidding farewell to their longtime colleague, the eight remaining Supreme Court justices joined family members, former law clerks and members of the public Friday in paying their respects to Antonin Scalia in a tradition-laden, solemn day at the marble courthouse atop Capitol Hill.
Rev. Paul Scalia, the justice’s son and a Catholic priest, said traditional prayers at a private ceremony before thousands of people filed through the court’s Great Hall, where Scalia’s casket lay on a funeral bier first used after President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
“You have called your servant Antonin out of this world. Release him from the bonds of sin and welcome him into your presence,” the sixth of the justice’s nine children said.
Outside the court, meanwhile, a makeshift memorial was set up featuring jars of applesauce, a pile of fortune cookies and paper bags, items that figured in the outspoken conservative Scalia’s sharp dissents in recent cases.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama visited the court Friday afternoon, bow- ing their heads near Scalia’s casket and pausing in front of a portrait of the justices. During their brief stop at the court, the Obamas were greeted by Chief Justice John Roberts and met with another son of Scalia, Army Lt. Col. Matthew Scalia, and his family.
Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, were to attend Satur- day’s funeral Mass.
On Friday, 98 former law clerks to Scalia lined the Supreme Court’s steps as a police honor guard carried the casket into the building beneath the iconic words “Equal Justice Under Law” just after 9:30 a.m. on a cold, overcast morning.
The justices stood near the casket in the same order in which they will sit on a reconfigured bench following Scalia’s death last week in Texas.
Chief Justice John Roberts was between Justices Anthony Kennedy, the longest-serving member of the current court, and Clarence Thomas.
A 2007 portrait of Scalia by artist Nelson Shanks was displayed nearby. In it, the justice is shown surrounded by images representing important moments and influences in his life, including a framed wedding photograph of his wife, Maureen. The extended Scalia family gathered around the widow inside the court.
Scalia’s clerks also took 30-minute turns standing near the casket in groups of four, and planned to do so through the night until his body is taken from the court for his funeral on Saturday.
Among those passing t hrough t he Great Hall were members of t he f ederal appeals court on which Scalia ser ved before j oining t he Supreme Court, i ncluding t wo j udges mentioned as possible replacements. Judges Sri Srinivasan and Patricia Millett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit paused briefly before Scalia’s casket and portrait.
More than 5,500 people had passed by the casket as of early Friday evening.
At one point, the wait topped 3½ hours, mainly because the public was not allowed in for a time because of the Obamas’ visit.