--- title: Justice Antonin Scalia's Supreme Court Chair Draped in Black description: The bench chair of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was draped with a black wool crepe in his memory on Tuesday, as is tradition canonical: https://time.com/4225722/antonin-scalia-supreme-court-chair-funeral/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-16T16:49:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T18:16:18.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: See Justice Scalia's Supreme Court Chair Draped in Black og:description: Scalia will lie in repose at the Supreme Court on Friday og:url: https://time.com/4225722/antonin-scalia-supreme-court-chair-funeral/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd222809c23913b9/69887dc8196cf45eef03a588/supreme-court-justice-antonin-scalia-drape-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 11586 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Justice Scalia's Supreme Court Chair Draped in Black twitter:description: Scalia will lie in repose at the Supreme Court on Friday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd222809c23913b9/69887dc8196cf45eef03a588/supreme-court-justice-antonin-scalia-drape-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Justice Scalia's Bench Chair Is Draped in Black at the Supreme Court  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:16 PM UTCPublished: Feb 16, 2016 4:49 PM UTC  Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s bench chair and the bench in front of his seat are draped in black in the Courtroom of the Supreme Court following his Feb. 13, 2016 death. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s bench chair and the bench in front of his seat are draped in black in the Courtroom of the Supreme Court following his Feb. 13, 2016 death.Franz Jantzen—Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:16 PM UTCPublished: Feb 16, 2016 4:49 PM UTC **Correction appended, Feb. 18** The bench chair of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia [was draped with a black wool crepe](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/16/466925067/justice-scalia-will-lie-in-repose-at-the-supreme-court-on-friday?utm%5Fsource=twitter.com&utm%5Fcampaign=npr&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fterm=nprnews) in his memory on Tuesday, a tradition that dates to 1873\. Another [black drape](https://twitter.com/ChattmanTanya/status/699623315929956352) hung over the courtroom doors.  Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s bench chair and the bench in front of his seat are draped in black in the Courtroom of the Supreme Court following his Feb. 13, 2016 death. Franz Jantzen—Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States  The doors of the Courtroom of the Supreme Court are draped in black following the Feb. 13 death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. Franz Jantzen—Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States [Scalia will lie in repose at the Supreme Court on Friday](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/16/466925067/justice-scalia-will-lie-in-repose-at-the-supreme-court-on-friday?utm%5Fsource=twitter.com&utm%5Fcampaign=npr&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fterm=nprnews), before his funeral on Saturday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., NPR reported, citing sources close to the Scalia family. Scalia was a [devout Catholic](http://time.com/4220768/antonin-scalia-dead-catholic-legacy/), and the basilica is the largest Catholic church in North America. It’s also tradition for the other justices to stand on the Supreme Court steps as the casket is brought inside, as they did in [2005 for Chief Justice William Rehnquist](http://www.c-span.org/video/?188700-1/chief-justice-rehnquist-lying-repose), who was carried on the funeral bier first used by Abraham Lincoln. Scalia, 79, [died of a heart attack](http://time.com/4224440/antonin-scalia-heart-attack/) on Saturday at a resort in West Texas. **Correction**: The original version of this story incorrectly referred to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. 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