Hodson notes that Garland is well versed in criminal law, as he handled the prosecution in both the Timothy McVeigh case from the Oklahoma City bombing, and the Unabomber case.
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The nomination comes amid Republican claims that the next justice of the Supreme Court should be nominated by the president-elect chosen later this year.
Based on the politics surrounding the current vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, a UW-Madison political scientist says he was surprised by the nominee President Barack Obama went with for the seat.
Obama has been searching for a replacement for long-serving conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Feb 13. The so-called “Biden Rule” is a reference to Biden’s comments in 1992 urging the president not to nominate a Supreme Court justice in an election year.
On Thursday, Garland met with Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, and then with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in private, but Garland did not meet with any Senate Republicans.
Does anyone really believe McConnell would be blocking any Supreme Court nomination if it were sent to the Senate by an outgoing white Republican president?
While that is possible, Senate Republicans might want to consider the possibility of another Democrat in the White House who may not be inclined to nominate someone as relatively palatable to the right as Garland. “That would be unprecedented”, said President Obama. It’s up to the Senate Judiciary Committee to call for hearings.
Politically speaking, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., can be maddeningly brilliant. The president? The Senate majority leader is doing that all by himself.
“Amazing how the opinions & words of President Obama differ so much from those words & opinions of Senator Obama”.
Some wonder if Garland’s age – he is significantly older than previous SCOTUS nominees – and important Republican senators’ past opposition of Garland could be considered a concession.
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Obama’s selection of appellate judge Merrick Garland landed with a bang the morning after primaries in Florida, Ohio and other key states made clear that Clinton and Trump will be their parties’ presidential candidates, barring extraordinary circumstances. And in spite of the pushback, several Republicans have said they may meet with, if not vote for him.
