Watch: How a new Supreme Court justice is named

The recent death of 79-year-old Antonin Scalia, a 30-year veteran of the United States Supreme Court, means an unexpected new course for the Supreme Court. It had been assumed a spot on the high court bench would not open until 82-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg stepped down, but now, a partisan war is brewing over who should name his replacement.

President Obama will nominate a justice for Senate approval, but, Republican senators want the next president, elected in 2016, to choose the justice.

RELATED: Here's how Scalia's death affects Supreme Court rulings this year

Before the battle begins, let’s backtrack. How exactly does one secure a spot as a Supreme Court justice?

We’ll walk you through it.

Morgan Buckley is a University of Southern California student and a Paste BN College correspondent.

This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.