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More on the Supreme Court nominee
Can you imagine it? One day you are sitting in undoubtedly well-appointed chambers within the hallowed halls of the U.S Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, a stone’s throw from the White House. The next day you get a call from the president’s chief of staff (hopefully it’s not Doug Stamper because then you’re likely in trouble) and find yourself invited to meet with the president about a potential nomination to the United States Supreme Court.
“Huh,” you think. “That was not on my agenda for today.”
On Wednesday, of course, President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy created by Justice Antonin Scalia’s death. Garland is clearly a well-accomplished lawyer with a distinguished pedigree. Many are saying that he was the best available, centrist choice to go up against the stonewalling he is likely to receive on Capitol Hill.
Using the power of a quick Google search, I wanted to see if there were any connections between Garland and our fair state. The only nugget I found is that Garland is a resident of Bethesda. Not very salacious or particularly interesting, but in a way, we can be proud that he is a fellow Marylander, along with Chief Justice John Roberts, who lives in Chevy Chase.
Garland’s record on the bench has been the subject of a lot of interesting writing this week, with one outlet noting that “[t]e Supreme Court has not granted cert. in any case in which he wrote the Court of Appeals’ opinion.” Further,”[o]f the seven cases reviewed by the Supreme Court in which he has stated (or strongly implied) a position, the justices agreed with him in four.” Not too shabby.
Garland’s resume includes consideration of some of the most challenging constitutional questions arising from treatment of enemy combatants, Guantanamo Bay, and Abu Ghraib. Garland was a member of the al Odah panel. al Odah v. United States, 321 F.3d 1134 (2003) (holding that federal district court lacked habeas corpus jurisdiction over Guantanamo detainees under existing Supreme Court precedent), rehearing en banc denied without dissent (June 2, 2003), rev’d sub nom. Rasul v. Bush, 540 U.S. 1175 (2004) (6-3 vote, per Stevens, J.). Judge Garland also authored the opinion invalidating a combatant status review tribunal’s designation of a detainee as an “enemy combatant.” Parhat v. Gates, 532 F.3d 834 (2008). In Saleh v. Titan Corp., 580 F.3d 1 (2009) , he dissented from a panel opinion dismissing Iraqis’ claims against contractors at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison.
There is agreement that Garland has the most judicial experience of any nominee in recent history given his 19 years on the bench. There also is agreement that his judicial approach is centrist, not flashy, to the point. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether Garland will make it into the confirmation process, let alone through the process and onto the bench.
