The issue focused on Justice Antonin Scalia's judicial opinions that permitted courts to impose constitutional obligations without legislative authorization. But even before Justice Scalia died in February, legal scholars around the country began sounding alarms about what could happen if Justice Scalia were replaced by someone like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. (Thomas had agreed to replace Scalia after Scalia refused.) In July, Judicial Watch filed a complaint with the Supreme Court alleging that Justice Scalia had illegally inserted himself into litigation involving lawsuits brought against federal judges for rulings they made during their tenure