Cruz: Scalia ‘changed the course of legal history’

White House hopeful Ted Cruz on Saturday was quick to laud Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on the news of his death Saturday, saying he “changed the course of legal history.”

{mosads}“Today our nation mourns the loss of one of the greatest Justices in history – Justice Antonin Scalia,” Cruz said in a statement. “A champion of our liberties and a stalwart defender of the Constitution, he will go down as one of the few Justices who single-handedly changed the course of legal history.”

Cruz praised Scalia for his forceful opinions on the court, including the controversial 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller decision upholding the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment.

“As liberals and conservatives alike would agree, through his powerful and persuasive opinions, Justice Scalia fundamentally changed how courts interpret the Constitution and statutes, returning the focus to the original meaning of the text after decades of judicial activism,” he said.

“And he authored some of the most important decisions ever, including District of Columbia v. Heller, which recognized our fundamental right under the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms.”

“He was an unrelenting defender of religious liberty, free speech, federalism, the constitutional separation of powers, and private property rights. All liberty-loving Americans should be in mourning,” concluded the Texas senator.  

He said Scalia’s three decades on the high court was “one of President Reagan’s most consequential legacies.”

“Our prayers are with his beloved wife Maureen, their nine children, and their precious grandchildren,” he added.

Scalia, 79, was found dead Saturday of natural causes during a hunting vacation in Texas. He was nominated for the Supreme Court in 1986 by Ronald Reagan and championed the legal doctrine of originalism during his time on the bench.