MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Gov. Scott Walker has ordered the U.S. and Wisconsin state flags lowered to half-staff at state government buildings across Wisconsin in honor of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Walker's executive order says flags should remain lowered through the date of Scalia's internment.

The Republican governor calls Scalia "a patriot and a hero of American jurisprudence" who served the country with honor and distinction. Walker says the conservative justice "stood for the letter of the law and did not allow politics of the day to sway his dedication to the constitutional role of the judiciary."

President Barack Obama issued a similar order that applies to flags flown at the White House, Supreme Court and other public buildings and grounds in the nation's capital and elsewhere across the country.