Mark Lieberman, DCist

Unlike most Americans, Stephanie Razzano knew Antonin Scalia apart from his politics. As fellow members of the National Italian American Foundation, Razzano “shared many a dais, ate many a dinner” with the longtime Supreme Court justice. She last saw him a year ago at an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Holy Rosary Church.

“It was always very nice to be in his company,” Razzano says.

Last Saturday, Razzano and her husband Frank were out to dinner when Stephanie got a text from her daughter: Scalia, 79, had passed away of natural causes at a resort in Texas. “I was quite taken aback,” Razzano said.

When the initial shock faded, the Razzanos knew they wanted to pay their respects. They were among a crowd of several hundred lined up outside the Supreme Court this morning to see Scalia lying in repose in his workplace of three decades. At times, the line snaked all the way from the foot of the Court steps down 1st Street NE, turning the corner at East Capitol Street and running down to 2nd Street NE. Temperatures in the mid-30s and overcast skies didn’t deter visitors eager to pay their respects.

Stephanie Razzano said she has fond memories of Scalia asking how she was doing and joking with her children.

“[The general public] doesn’t get to see him in the same light,” Razzano said.

Several other members of Friday’s line echoed Razzano’s sentiments. Linda Dwyer knew Scalia through her son-in-law, a friend of the justice’s family. “He wasn’t just a great man,” Dwyer said. “He was a good man, and that’s almost as important.”

Patrick Cronin’s father went to school with Scalia at Xavier High School in Manhattan, and Cronin himself went to school with Scalia’s son, Paul. Cronin thinks of Scalia as a man devoted to his family, exemplified by the time the justice replaced a foyer picture of President Reagan swearing him onto the Court with a snapshot of Scalia’s Paul, a priest, meeting the Pope.

“He was so proud of his kids,” Cronin said. “I think that’s been missing. It’s almost like the family has to apologize for him dying at an inconvenient time.”

Personal matters were on the mind for many at the Court on Friday, but politics also had a presence. Rockville’s Jim Filliben appreciated Scalia’s reverence for the Constitution and worries that the justice who eventually places him will send Court rulings in a more liberal direction.

“The whole thing is just too bad,” Filliben said. “It’s bad for the country.”

Filliben also entertains the possibility that “foul play” had a hand in Scalia’s death, as some conspiracy theorists have speculated. While waiting in line, Filliben asked two or three others if they agree. They didn’t.

Though some predicted that there would be protesters who opposed Scalia’s conservative stances against abortion and same-sex marriage, few dissenters appeared. A handful of signs boasted phrases of support like “God Bless the USA & Scalia Family.” A man across the street shouting phrases of prayer and blaring Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “Ni**as in Paris” from a megaphone drew snickers of derision from onlookers, but little more.

The mood was intermittently cheery despite the somber occasion. A few children accompanied their parents among the largely adult crowd. Several visitors sipped hot beverages from Starbucks cups and snapped photos with their smartphones during the wait. For visitors like Doug Thomson, a Connecticut native and George Washington University freshman interning for Senator Richard Blumenthal, this event marked their first trip to the Supreme Court.

“We thought we’d take advantage of the … I guess you could call it ‘opportunity,’” Thomson said, gesturing to three of his fellow interns who accompanied him at the urging of their supervisor.

Others were feeling more reflective. Delia Tyagi of Arlington clutched a Holy Cross necklace as she prepared to see Scalia’s casket. She’s spent the week since his death thinking about his nine children, especially in the wake of her own father passing away a year ago. “Justice Scalia’s my hero,” she said.

For conservative-leaning U.S. citizens, Scalia’s passing marked the end of an era, several visitors said today. Shannon Clasen of Fredericksburg said his “wit and intellect” and respect of the Constitution won’t be matched.”

“We lost our greatest defender of our liberty,” Clasen said.

President Barack Obama, who has drawn criticism for not planning on attending Scalia’s funeral this weekend, is paying his respects at the Supreme Court this afternoon.

Doors remain open for the public viewing until 8 p.m. A private service for the justice will be held tomorrow at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

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