WORLD NEWS: US - Americans wish Justice Scalia farewell

Family, colleagues and the American public have paid their respects to US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Thousands filed past Justice Scalia's casket inside the Great Hall of the US Supreme Court on Friday.
The court's remaining eight justices were among those on hand to say farewell to their former colleague, who died last week at age 79.
Justice Scalia's courtroom chair has been draped in black cloth

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama also arrived to pay their respects.

The formal tribute to the conservative jurist began with current and former law clerks lining the marble steps of the nation's highest court as Supreme Court police officers carried the justice's US flag-draped coffin.
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Family members, including Justice Scalia's widow Maureen Scalia, waited at the top of the steps to receive the casket.

At a private ceremony, Father Paul Scalia, a Catholic priest who is one of Justice Scalia's nine children, delivered a prayer.

A short time later, members of the public who had queued outside on the pavement around the building began to file in and past the justice's coffin.

Justice Scalia was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan and was the longest serving member on the court.

The conservative jurist's unexpected death has sparked an election-year firestorm over his potential successor.
President Obama, who has the authority to nominate Supreme Court justices, has said he will announce his nominee "in due time".

But Senate Republicans, who must approve the nominee, have made it clear they do not intend move forward with the process until after the 2016 election.

The next justice could tip the balance of the bench for the first time in decades after Justice Scalia's death left the nine-justice court evenly split with four conservatives and four liberals.

The White House said on Friday that Mr Obama has begun consulting with a "wide variety" of individuals regarding his search for a nominee.

The issue has been heightened by the fact that the Supreme Court is set to decide its first major abortion case in nearly 10 years, as well as legal challenges on voting rights, affirmative action, immigration and unions.

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