Scalia's death deprives conservatives of reliable vote on key issues

The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has left the conservatives with an insurmountable problem which includes a vote deprivation on a range of issues. Issues like President Barack Obama's effort to accommodate faith-based groups who objects to paying for contraceptives as part of their health insurance plans and the design of congressional districts in Virginia are difficult to win for the Republicans.

According to ABC News, since the Republican members of the Congress from Virginia were deprived of a reliable vote, the two upcoming cases are likely to be a defeat for the party.  The death of Scalia changes the environmental tone of the Supreme Court.  The Republicans want the court to reinstate a congressional map drawn by Virginia lawmakers in an argument which happened on Monday. The lower court rejected the map and concluded that the lawmakers unconstitutionally packed black voters into one district to make adjacent districts safer for any incumbents as long as he or she is a Republican.

Washington's Top News reported that the dispute concerns the 3rd Congressional District in Virginia, which is the only location in the state with a majority of African-American residents.  Represented by Democrat Bobby Scott, the district runs from the north of Richmond to the coastal areas of Newport News and Norfolk. The lower court then drew a new congressional map to use in this year's presidential election. Republicans failed to persuade the Supreme Court to delay the usage of the new map, while the case is still under appeal, even before the death of Justice Scalia.

Meanwhile, the court will handle an appeal from religious groups on Wednesday which claims that they remain complicit in providing morally objectionable contraceptives to women covered by their own health insurances, reports Crux Now.

The justices were divided 5-4 in 2014, with Justice Scalia in the majority, to allow some closely held businesses together with religious objections to refuse to pay for contraceptives for women. Eight appellate courts have sided with the administration and only one has ruled for the religious groups.

President Obama nominated an appellate judge last week, Merrick Garland, but the Senate Republicans said they would not hold meetings and even vote on the nomination. 

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scalia death, deprives conservatives, reliable vote, US Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia, us justice nominee, republicans versus democrats, US 2016 elections

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