Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead in his room at a hunting resort in Shafter, Texas during the morning of Feb. 13. The cause of death has been ruled as heart failure brought on by natural causes.

In an interview with the Associated Press Scalia's friend and Houston lawyer Mark Lanier said, "[there] is no place he would rather be than on hunt."

The conservative justice was appointed to the position by Ronald Reagan in 1986. He was known for his no-nonsense style in the courtroom, and for his seemingly poetic Supreme Court dissents. He was well liked by other justices on the supreme court, especially his close and rather unexpected friend Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. After hearing of his death, Ginsburg wrote, "We were best buddies."

And while the rest of the Judicial Branch of the U.S Government will continue to mourn the loss and reminisce on the life of Scalia, the White House is already shifting gears and actively searching for a new justice to fulfill the vacancy.

The Obama Administration has stated that it has begun the search for a new justice to fulfill the vacancy. Obama, in his press briefing, states that this is a responsibility he "takes very seriously." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized Obama for not waiting until the bench was cold before suggesting nominees. Rather, McConnell feels that the American people should have a "voice in the selection" and therefore it should wait until after the election.

However, there is a sense of irresponsibility if there is a vacancy on the court for over a year. And regardless of the position of the Republican party, it is very apparent that the current administration will be looking for a new justice.

But selecting a Supreme Court justice is no easy task. So now that the circumstance of the situation is known, how exactly does the president select a new nominee?

For that answer, we must jump back to U.S Government class in high school.

The Supreme Court is one of the three branches of government that keep this country moving. These branches of government were designed to prevent one branch from having too much power. The Supreme Court was designed to interpret the constitutionality of laws passed by the other two branches.

On this court, the highest level of court system in this country, there are nine justices that sit on the bench, hear cases and make rulings.

President Obama's job is then to select someone who he feels has a similar interpretation of the law, political ideologies, and beliefs as him. This nominee must then be able to make it through the vetting process of the Senate, and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

This makes Obama's job more difficult, because the Senate is currently a Republican majority.

If a nominee is to be rejected, which does not happen often, the nominating process must start from the beginning. And this process will continue until a justice is nominated.

And though we can only speculate who might be on the list of nominees, if Obama's past nominees, Sotomayor and Kagan, are any indicator of the time line, it may be upwards of 4 weeks before a name is revealed.

But until this new drama can unfold in Season 8 of "America: Obama Edition", let us continue to enjoy the political horse races that are happening within both parties.

Remember to stay informed and to ask questions - there's a mountain of garbage to sort though to find that one tiny nugget of truth.