Chief Justice Rehnquist Dies

CNN has the article, too.

You'll probably have seen this by morning, but no matter. Justice Willian Rehnquist has died of thyroid cancer.

I'll refer you to my previous thoughts on SCOTUS nominees here and here. In my mind, this is going to be a huge deal. With a second seat on the court up for grabs, I'm betting the ferocity and rhetoric on both sides of the aisle is going to surge. As much as O'Connor's retirement led conservatives to say, "Ah, now we can replace a (mostly) liberal judge with a conservative one," liberals will be saying the exact opposite now. "Ah, now we can replace a conservative judge with a liberal one!"

Prepare for partisan politics at its finest.

Chief Justice Rehnquist dies at home
WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died Saturday evening at his home in suburban Virginia, said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg.

A statement from the spokeswoman said he was surrounded by his three children when he died in Arlington.

"The Chief Justice battled thyroid cancer since being diagnosed last October and continued to perform his dues on the court until a precipitous decline in his health the last couple of days," she said.

Rehnquist was appointed to the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1971 by President Nixon and took his seat on Jan. 7, 1972. He was elevated to chief justice by President Reagan in 1986.

Other voices on the matter: Captain's Quarters, Slublog, Michelle Malkin.