Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Today at 11:00, President Obama will announce Merrick Garland as his nominee for the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of revered Justice Antonin Scalia.
The announcement comes at a precarious time.
It’s an election year, and Washington is deeply divided along partisan lines. Republicans fear ceding Scalia’s position to a liberal justice would imperil conservative values for decades to come, while the President insists that lawmakers are obligated to live up to their duties under the constitution and consider his pick.
Politico notes. “So far, there are few signs that the Republican stand against any action on an Obama nominee is likely to crack [as] all 11 GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee signed what amounts to a written pledge that no nominee will be granted a hearing until after a new president is sworn in next January.”
If the Senate were to insist on waiting out Obama’s term it would be unprecedented. Lawmakers have never taken longer than 125 days to vote on a nominee. Over the last 116 years, Senators have confirmed 6 of 8 nominees in election years.
"Divisive Supreme Court decisions are more likely to be re-examined — and possibly overturned — when a court changes," The New York Times writes, adding that "in the Roberts Court, 85 cases split 5 to 4 or 5 to 3 with Justice Scalia in the conservative majority, many with similar judicial themes." Here's a look at those cases broken down by theme:
Below, find Obama’s letter announcing…well…announcing his announcement.
Today, I will announce the person whom I believe is eminently qualified to sit on the Supreme Court.
As President, it is both my constitutional duty to nominate a Justice and one of the most important decisions that I — or any president — will make.
Garland’s relatively advanced age may help explain why Hatch floated the DC Circuit chief judge as his ideal Obama nominee. Another factor that almost certainly played a role is Garland’s reputation for moderation. In 2003, for example, Garland joined an opinion holding that the federal judiciary lacks the authority “to assert habeas corpus jurisdiction at the behest of an alien held at a military base leased from another nation, a military base outside the sovereignty of the United States” — an opinion that effectively prohibited Guantanamo Bay detainees from seeking relief in civilian courts. A little over a year later, the Supreme Court reversed this decision in Rasul v. Bush. Although, in fairness, it should be noted that legal experts disagree about whether the decision Garland joined was mandated by existing precedents.
The former prosecutor also has a relatively conservative record on criminal justice. A 2010 examination of his decisions by SCOTUSBlog’s Tom Goldstein determined that “Judge Garland rarely votes in favor of criminal defendants’ appeals of their convictions.” Goldstein “identified only eight such published rulings,” in addition to seven where “he voted to reverse the defendant’s sentence in whole or in part, or to permit the defendant to raise a argument relating to sentencing on remand,” during the 13 years Garland had then spent on the DC Circuit.
To be clear, Garland’s record does not suggest that he would join the Court’s right flank if confirmed to the Supreme Court. He would likely vote much more often than not with the Supreme Court’s liberals, while occasionally casting a heterodox vote.
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And more from his biography:
Merrick Garland was born on November 13, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Harvard Law and became Special Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice. In private practice he supervised the prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombing and Unibomber cases. Garland currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Born Merrick Brian Garland on November 13, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois, to parents Cyril and Shirley Garland. His father founded Garland Advertising in the city, while his mother became director of volunteer services at the Council for Jewish Elderly. Garland grew up in the upper middle-class suburb of Lincolnwood, Illinois, where he attended Niles West High School. Garland excelled academically, becoming a member of the Presidential Scholars Program and a National Merit Scholar before his graduation in 1970.
Garland attended Harvard College after high school, quickly rising to the top of his class and becoming an editor for The Harvard Law Review. In 1974 he was named valedictorian of his graduating class, and earned a bachelor's degree in Social Studies. He then set his sights on law school, graduating with a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law in 1977.
Following his matriculation, Garland clerked for Judge Henry Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. In 1979, Garland was tapped for a position as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice. He served in this capacity until 1981, then entered private practice at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., where his responsibilities included the supervising the prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombing and UNABOM cases. For his efforts, he was named as a partner to the firm in 1985.
Garland left the private sector in 1989 to serve as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. After a brief return to Arnold & Porter in 1992, Garland was named as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He was promoted to Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, and served in this capacity until his appointment as U.S. Circuit Judge during the Clinton administration in 1997.
