Washington wasted no time upon the death of Justice Scalia to embark on yet another polarizing partisan battle. Scalia, a staunch conservative had a nearly pristine record of voting along party lines for most of the 30 years that he served. Now, as the Presidential Election is in full swing, we will see a battle between POTUS and Congress regarding the major concern as to who will fill his seat. As Obama enters the last 11 months of his presidency, he will nominate a democratic candidate, who will be undoubtedly be blocked by the Republican controlled Congress. This divide and this blockade will create even more polarization between our parties.

All of the Republican candidates with the exception of Jeb Bush (who really just needs to withdraw at this point) have said Obama should let the next President decide the next nominee. The main problem with that is, now there are 8 Justices sitting on the bench- posing the obvious problem of what happens if the vote is split down the middle? What happens then, is that their vote is deemed invalid and the decision from the prior federal appeals court stands, minus it actually impacting the rest of the country. The decision for the case will only be applicable for that one case.

SCOTUS is working on a number of highly partisan cases currently. According to The Washington Post, these include: Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, United States vs. Texas, Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole, Zubik v. Burwell.

Each of these cases represents issues plaguing our nation, and large segments of our demographic. Women’s rights, illegal immigrants and affirmative action are all truly “hot button” issues, which will create a groundswell of both support and anger from both sides of the aisles. So, where do we go from here? Who will be our next Supreme Court Justice?

Commentators on the news, talk radio and various other media platforms have listed the following as major contenders for the vacancy: Loretta Lynch, Merrick Garland, Jane Kelly, Paul Watford, Sri Srinivasan, Cory Booker and Patricia Millett. According to Tom Goldstein, a Supreme Court expert Loretta Lynch is the top contender due to the fact she was vetted and received approval from the Senate from her current position- Attorney General.

Regardless of who is selected, there will be a social change in our country in terms of the loss of one of the most conservative justices to sit on the high bench. The Republicans have lost one of their fiercest supporters and the Democrats have gained a potential opening. I predict that we will see a shift toward a more progressive social agenda- one that reflects the young voters and their call for equity, and social justice across the country.