Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Has Died

Charles Rex Arbogast / AP

WASHINGTON — Justice Antonin Scalia, the conservative heart of the Supreme Court for more than a decade, has died, multiple outlets are reporting.

Texas media outlets reported on Saturday afternoon that the justice was found dead of apparent natural causes in West Texas while on a hunting trip.

He was 79 years old and was the current court's longest-serving justice.

Scalia was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan.

A representative of the Cibolo Creek Ranch, where Scalia was reported to have died, told BuzzFeed News she was unable to comment on the incident, citing guest confidentiality.

In a statement that the Texas governor released "following the news of Justice Scalia's passing, Gov. Greg Abbott remembered the Supreme Court justice as a "man of God, a patriot, and an unwavering defender of the written Constitution and the Rule of Law."

"He was the solid rock who turned away so many attempts to depart from and distort the Constitution," Abbott said. "His fierce loyalty to the Constitution set an unmatched example, not just for judges and lawyers but for all Americans."

SOURCE: BuzzFeed