"The interpretation of the laws is the proper and peculiar province of the courts. ... Whenever a particular statute contravenes the Constitution, it will be the duty of the judicial tribunals to adhere to the latter and disregard the former."
—Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 78
To maintain our democratic system , we must have all nine members on the Supreme Court. Therefore it would be unthinkable to wait a year to replace Justice Scalia on the bench. It is therefore imperative that the president nominate the best available candidate with all due haste and for the Senate to start confirmations hearings as soon as possible, leading to a simple up or down vote on any qualified candidate that the president shall nominate.