Justice Antonin Scalia’s body was hardly lying in a morgue before the political vultures—those already in office, those seeking high office and those reporting on the national scene—were chewing on the possibilities raised by his death.

Of course it’s a tantalizing prospect, and what happens next is a legitimate topic for debate. However, it is unseemly when the debate immediately rises to high tones of indignation and promises of stonewalling whoever is nominated next.

Ugly, ugly, ugly.

The justice deserves a period of respectful mourning. Whether one agreed with him or not, he was a conscientious, intelligent and articulate jurist, utterly capable and quite influential on the Supreme Court. Let him rest in peace for a decent period before starting up the predictable howling and hollering about his successor.

It’s hard to follow one prominent line of reasoning, the argument to leave the space vacant until the next president is inaugurated on Jan. 20, ...