President Obama on Wednesday nominated Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit to the Supreme Court. Garland, who is 63, is considered to be highly regarded overall and is a moderate centrist. He has been on the appellate bench for almost two decades and has served presidents from both parties.
Democratic-aligned activist groups had been pushing for a more liberal nominee and one that would make the Supreme Court more diverse.
After the president’s announcement, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) immediately reiterated their opposition to holding hearings or to vote on the nomination, saying again that the next president should fill this important vacancy on the high court. Some Republicans have since signaled that they may extend the traditional courtesy of meeting with the nominee.
Garland is known for his careful opinions that follow, rather than push back at precedents, either at his own court or the Supreme Court. He would be the most conservative Supreme Court nominee by a Democratic president in decades. Garland’s replacement of the late conservative icon Antonin Scalia would be the most significant shift on the Supreme Court since Clarence Thomas was confirmed in 1991 to replace the liberal civil rights giant Thurgood Marshall.
Sixty-three percent of Americans said the Senate should hold hearings on Obama’s nominee to replace late justice Antonin Scalia, while 32 percent said the Senate should not hold hearings and leave it to the next president, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released last week.
D.C. Circuit Judge Garland graduated with honors from Harvard University and Harvard Law School. He clerked for Judge Henry Friendly on the Second Circuit and then for Justice William Brennan. Garland spent most of his career in public service, much like Justice Samuel Alito. Both served as Assistant United States Attorneys and as high-level aides to Attorneys General.
Garland also worked in private practice for several years at Arnold & Porter, where he was named partner in 1985. During that time, he also taught antitrust at Harvard Law School. In 1993, he was appointed as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice. In 1994, he became the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, with responsibilities that included the supervision of the Oklahoma City bombing case and the case against the Unabomber.
In 1995, President Clinton nominated Garland for an opening on the D.C. Circuit. Garland’s nomination was stalled by Senate Republicans because of a dispute over whether to fill the 12th seat on the court at all. Clinton re-nominated Garland in 1997, and he was confirmed approximately three months later by a vote of 76 to 23. He became chief judge three years ago. Seven current republicans senators voted to confirm Garland to the federal bench in 1997.
