Dear President Obama,

The untimely demise of Mr. Justice Scalia is a grave loss to our Republic, as he, single-handedly, made us honor the Constitution as our collective Founding Fathers originally intended. J. Scalia, of Sicilian ancestry, was a great American and enhanced the American Dream for all – even if I didn’t agree with him in every holding. But, he was a Jewel in the Crown of Justice, and he will be sorely missed.

I write to applaud your honoring the Constitution, exact-ly as J. Scalia ruled we all must, by stating that you will nominate a successor. In addition, I write in support of certain great Americans – with immigrant roots like J. Scalia: USA Preet Bharara, AG Kamala Harris and CJ Sri Srinivasan. That Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has announced that he will violate the Constitution this year, while in February 1988 he voted in President Reagan’s last year for J. Anthony Kennedy is an insult to J. Scalia’s cherished Originalist doctrine. While politics is a necessary vehicle for democracy to function, a blanket promise to breach the Oath by Leader McConnell is as appalling, as it is illegal.

Still, politics being politics, and Senate being in Republican control, this solitary fact aids in tempering your choice of nominee – and among the three I proudly mention – only CJ Srinivasan has been voted up 97-0 -and the fact that he clerked for the revered Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and has, like myself, defended other nations’ sovereignty by preventing extra-territorial jurisdiction of our courts, makes him a Centrist – worthy of prompt Senate confirmation. Your nomination will delight every Indian-American, including those serving in our military, and indeed, 1.2 billion Indians, that America has finally seized the moment of destiny to join at the legal hip two natural allies, under law – a destiny that has been beckoning, by my thinking, since Lord Charles Cornwallis lost these Colonies to General George Washington and upon landing in Bombay decreed 5000 Indians – men, women and children killed – as he was going to rule with an iron fist and not lose the Empire’s then-crown jewel – India. That CJ Srinivasan will continue to honor, in his reserved and non-activist way, our cher-ished Constitution is a known fact. I urge you to nomi-nate CJ Srinivasan and make America stronger and J. Scalia proud. You have a patriot’s and a lawyer’s heart-felt thanks. The validation of an entire community inci-dentally results.

Respectfully,

Ravi Batra