Funeral for Justice

President Obama’s decision not to attend the Saturday funeral of Justice Scalia—located a few miles from the White House— is a lost opportunity to unite by example. Few justices die in office, even though many work well into their 70s and 80s. One explanation for their penchant for work is that their pensions use 70 years as a qualifying age. When Chief Justice Rehnquist died in office, President Bush delivered his eulogy. Given their shared values, this is unremarkable. The last Justice to die in office who was from different political party than the president’s party was Robert Jackson (FDR appointee), in 1954. All eight fellow justices attended his funeral in Jamestown, New York. (Brief Youtube of funeral train is here, remarkable for showing evidence of racially segregated work of "Negro porters," as these workers were called). President Eisenhower was unable to attend but personally sent a four-foot tall wreath. Did these men of differing politics share a common bond? Yes—Justice Jackson (Democrat) was the lead prosecutor in the Nuremberg Trials, President Eisenhower  (Republican) was the lead liberator of Europe. We have fallen far from those days of comity.