Merrick B. Garland

Merrick B. Garland is an American jurist who served as a circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1997 to 2021, including a tenure as chief judge from 2013 to 2020. Born in 1952, he was appointed to the federal appellate bench by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat, and confirmed by the Senate in March 1997. During his judicial career, Garland became widely known when President Barack Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court in 2016, though the Senate declined to act on that nomination. Following his departure from the bench in 2021, he served as United States attorney general.

Early life and legal career

Garland was born on November 13, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois, into a family with deep roots in the Jewish community. His mother, Shirley Horwitz Garland, worked as a director of volunteer services at what was then known as Chicago's Council for Jewish Elderly, an organization later renamed CJE SeniorLife. His father, Cyril Garland, operated Garland Advertising, a small business that he ran from the family's home. The family practiced Conservative Judaism, and their surname had been changed from Garfinkel in earlier generations. Garland's grandparents had emigrated from the Pale of Settlement in the western Russian Empire during the early twentieth century, leaving to escape antisemitic pogroms in territories that are now part of Ukraine and Poland. Two of his grandmother's siblings were later killed during the Holocaust. Among his extended family connections, Garland is a second cousin of Terry Branstad, who served six terms as the Republican governor of Iowa and later as United States Ambassador to China.

Growing up in Lincolnwood, a suburb on Chicago's northern border, Garland attended Niles West High School in nearby Skokie, Illinois. He was an active and accomplished student, serving as president of the student council, participating in theatrical productions, and competing on the debate team. When he graduated in 1970, he did so as class valedictorian. His academic achievements also earned him recognition as both a Presidential Scholar and a National Merit Scholar.

Garland enrolled at Harvard University, where he concentrated in social studies. Though he initially aspired to a career in medicine, he soon shifted his focus toward the law. During his undergraduate years, he became involved in campus governance, winning election as the only freshman member of a campus-wide committee. On that committee he worked alongside Jamie Gorelick, who would later become his supervisor in the Justice Department. During his college summers, Garland volunteered as a speechwriter for Congressman Abner J. Mikva, forging a relationship that would prove significant to his later career. After President Jimmy Carter appointed Mikva to the D.C. Circuit, Mikva would turn to Garland for assistance in hiring law clerks. At Harvard, Garland contributed news articles and theater reviews to the Harvard Crimson and lived in Quincy House. For his honors thesis, he produced a 235-page study examining industrial mergers in Britain during the 1960s. He graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social studies, summa cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Continuing his education at Harvard Law School, Garland became a member of the Harvard Law Review. He ran for the position of president of the Law Review but was defeated by Susan Estrich, after which he served as an articles editor. In that editorial role, Garland took the initiative to assign himself the task of editing a submission by Supreme Court Justice William Brennan on the subject of how state constitutions can safeguard individual rights. This professional correspondence with Justice Brennan later helped Garland secure a clerkship with the justice. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1977 with a Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude.

Following law school, Garland embarked on a series of prestigious clerkships. From 1977 to 1978, he clerked for Judge Henry Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City. He then clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. of the Supreme Court from 1978 to 1979. After completing his clerkships, Garland spent two years working as a special assistant to United States Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti during the final years of the Carter administration.

When the Carter administration concluded in 1981, Garland transitioned to private practice, joining the law firm Arnold & Porter. There he concentrated primarily on corporate litigation and advanced to partner in 1985. Among his notable cases was Motor Vehicles Manufacturers Association v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., decided in 1983, in which Garland represented an insurance company seeking to reinstate a controversial automatic seat belt mandate. After prevailing in both the D.C. Circuit and the Supreme Court, Garland authored an extensive 87-page article for the Harvard Law Review analyzing the case.

Garland later returned to public service at the United States Department of Justice, where he worked as a federal prosecutor. In this capacity, he took on significant responsibilities, including supervising the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing, one of the most consequential domestic terrorism cases in American history.

Federal appellate service

In 1997, President William J. Clinton, a Democrat, appointed Garland to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Senate confirmed his appointment on March 19, 1997. Garland assumed a seat designated as CADC1202 and began what would become nearly a quarter-century of service on one of the nation's most influential federal appellate courts. The D.C. Circuit is often regarded as second in importance only to the Supreme Court due to its jurisdiction over many cases involving federal agencies and national policy questions.

Garland served as a circuit judge for 24 years, from 1997 until 2021. During this period, he built a reputation as a meticulous and careful jurist. In 2013, he was elevated to the position of chief judge of the D.C. Circuit, a role he held until 2020. As chief judge, Garland bore administrative responsibilities for the court in addition to his judicial duties, overseeing court operations and representing the circuit in the broader federal judiciary.

The most prominent episode of Garland's appellate tenure occurred in 2016, when he was nominated to the Supreme Court. Following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016, President Barack Obama, a Democrat, nominated Garland in March of that year to fill the resulting vacancy. The nomination, however, became the center of an unprecedented political controversy. The Republican majority in the Senate refused to hold a hearing or vote on Garland's nomination, arguing that the vacancy should be filled by the next president. This refusal was highly controversial and represented a departure from historical practice regarding Supreme Court nominations. Garland's nomination remained pending for 293 days, the longest such period on record, before it expired on January 3, 2017, with the conclusion of the 114th Congress. After Donald Trump, a Republican, assumed the presidency, he nominated Neil Gorsuch to the seat, and the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Gorsuch.

Despite the failed Supreme Court nomination, Garland continued to serve on the D.C. Circuit. He stepped down from his position as chief judge in 2020 and remained a circuit judge until 2021, when he left the bench to assume a new role in the executive branch.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Garland's judicial philosophy and approach to the law during his time on the D.C. Circuit were characterized by careful attention to precedent and a methodical approach to legal reasoning. Over the course of his nearly 24 years on the bench, he participated in numerous cases involving administrative law, regulatory matters, and constitutional questions that came before one of the federal judiciary's most important appellate courts.

The D.C. Circuit's unique jurisdiction meant that Garland regularly addressed cases involving federal agencies, national security matters, and challenges to government regulations. His work on the court placed him at the intersection of law and policy on issues of national significance, though specific case names and holdings are not detailed in the available record.

As chief judge from 2013 to 2020, Garland's responsibilities extended beyond deciding cases to include the administrative leadership of the circuit. This role involved managing the court's operations, coordinating with other judges, and representing the D.C. Circuit within the federal judicial system. His tenure as chief judge spanned a period of significant activity for the court and the federal judiciary more broadly.

Garland's legacy is inextricably linked to the 2016 Supreme Court nomination. The Senate's refusal to consider his nomination became a defining moment in modern judicial confirmation politics and sparked ongoing debates about the confirmation process, the role of the Senate in considering judicial nominees, and the relationship between the executive and legislative branches in filling Supreme Court vacancies. The episode remains a significant reference point in discussions of judicial appointments and institutional norms.

Following his departure from the D.C. Circuit in 2021, Garland was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as United States attorney general. The Senate confirmed him in a 70–30 vote, and he took office in March 2021, transitioning from the judicial branch to a leadership role in the executive branch's Department of Justice.

Garland's career reflects a sustained commitment to public service across multiple domains of the legal profession, including private practice, federal prosecution, and nearly a quarter-century on the federal appellate bench. His service on the D.C. Circuit, particularly during his tenure as chief judge, represents a significant contribution to the administration of justice in cases involving federal law and policy.