President Barack Obama announced this morning [Wednesday, March 16] his nomination for the lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court is Merrick B. Garland.
If appointed, the “exceptionally qualified” Garland will fill the seat vacated by Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed last month.
According to The New York Times:
The president said Judge Garland is “widely recognized not only as one of America’s sharpest legal minds, but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness and excellence. These qualities and his long commitment to public service have earned him the respect and admiration from leaders from both sides of the aisle.”
He added that Judge Garland “will ultimately bring that same character to bear on the Supreme Court, an institution on which he is uniquely prepared to serve immediately.”
Judge Garland is a well-known moderate who has drawn bipartisan support over decades and with this nomination, President Obama “is essentially daring Republicans to press their election-year confirmation fight over a judge many of them have publicly praised.”
