Campaign Spending, Death Penalty in Play With Supreme Court Opening

By Greg Stohr, Bloomberg News

The death of Antonin Scalia could set off a U.S. Supreme Court realignment that reverses decisions touching major facets of American life including gun control, campaign finance reform, and consumer protections. A newly remade 5-4 majority might even consider outlawing the death penalty.

Those stakes help explain why Senate Republicans are vowing to block President Barack Obama from naming any successor to Scalia during the last year of Obama’s presidency. The clash sets up what promises to be an epic battle over the court’s future.

Because Scalia was the anchor of the court’s conservative wing, even ...