--- description: The death of Justice Antonin Scalia at age 79 raises the possibility of a 4-4 Supreme Court tie title: What Happens When the Supreme Court Is Tied image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa9f9693a61b0860/69887d993c163919c245c05d/supreme-court.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Supreme Court](/tag/supreme-court/) ## Supreme Court Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is What Happens When the Supreme Court Is Tied by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 14, 2016 2:20 AM CUT  The American flag flies at half mast after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Feb.13, 2016. The American flag flies at half mast after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Feb.13, 2016.Drew Angerer—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 14, 2016 2:20 AM CUT The death of Justice Antonin Scalia at age 79 raises a lot of questions, including how decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court go forward as the process to nominate his successor begins. Without nine justices, there is the potential for a 4-4 tie. Supreme Court ties aren’t unprecedented; justices have recused themselves from the bench for various reasons throughout history. When it happens, the lower court ruling stands and no precedent is set. In the paper “Ties in the Supreme Court of the United States,” published in the [William & Mary Law Review](http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1360&context=wmlr "undefined"), Edward Hartnett writes: --- > “” --- TIME’s Massimo Calabresi has explained how the conservative [justice’s death will impact the court’s pending cases](http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1360&context=wmlr "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4220760/supreme-court-tie-antonin-scalia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4220760/supreme-court-tie-antonin-scalia/"},"headline":"This Is What Happens When the Supreme Court Is Tied","datePublished":"2016-02-14T02:20:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:03:57.512Z","description":"Without Scalia, the court may be tied 4-4 on some cases","url":"https://time.com/4220760/supreme-court-tie-antonin-scalia/","keywords":["Supreme Court","justice","Antonin Scalia topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa9f9693a61b0860/69887d993c163919c245c05d/supreme-court.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa9f9693a61b0860/69887d993c163919c245c05d/supreme-court.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 13: The American flag flies at half mast at the U.S. Supreme Court February 13, 2016 in Washington, DC. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was at a Texas Ranch Saturday morning when he died at the age of 79. (Photo by Drew Ang","caption":"WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 13: The American flag flies at half mast at the U.S. Supreme Court February 13, 2016 in Washington, DC. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was at a Texas Ranch Saturday morning when he died at the age of 79. (Photo by Drew Ang","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/supreme-court/","name":"Supreme Court"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4220760/supreme-court-tie-antonin-scalia/","name":"This Is What Happens When the Supreme Court Is Tied"}}]}] ```