Report on the Nomination of Judge Merrick B. Garland As an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
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REPORT ON THE NOMINATION OF JUDGE MERRICK B. GARLAND AS AN ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT May 5 2016 Th e Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law About the Lawyers’ Committee for civil rights Th e principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure equal justice for all through the rule of law, targeting in particular the inequities confronting African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities. Th e Lawyers’ Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofi t organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar’s leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity – work that continues to be vital today. 1401 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20005 Phone: (202) 662-8600 Toll Free: (888) 299-5227 Fax: (202) 783-0857 ©2016. Th is publication is covered by the Creative Commons “Attribution” license (see http://cre- ativecommons.org). It may be reproduced in its entirety or modifi ed as long as the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is credited, a link to the license is included, and if changes were made to the original document, notifi cation that changes were made. 2 Th e Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Judge Merrick Garland Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Nominated March 16, 2016 to United States Supreme Court 3 Th e Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Table of Contents I. Executive Summary..................................................................................1 A. Judge Garland’s Jurisprudence in Civil Rights Cases.......................1 B. Jurisprudence on Criminal Justice...................................................2 C. Other Considerations......................................................................3 1. Experience and Education.....................................................3 2. Judicial Philosophy and Style.................................................3 D. Conclusion......................................................................................4 II. Th e Lawyers’ Committee’s Policy Regarding Nomintions To Th e Supreme Court........................................................................................................6 III. Biography..................................................................................................7 IV. Testimony From Previous Confi rmation Hearings....................................9 V. Analysis Of Judge Garland’s D.C. Circuit Opinions...............................11 A. Employment.................................................................................11 1. Title VII Cases.....................................................................12 2. Other Employment Cases....................................................15 B. Housing........................................................................................19 C. Voting Rights................................................................................21 D. Environmental Law and Environmental Justice............................24 E. Jurisprudence on Criminal Justice.................................................29 1. Overview.............................................................................29 2. General Criminal Appeals....................................................29 A. Ineff ective Assistance Claims......................................29 B. Other alleged Sentencing Errors................................31 C. Other Harmless Error And Procedural Affi rmances...33 3. Guantanamo Cases..............................................................34 4. Prisoners’ Rights/Prison Condition Cases............................35 VI. Other Sources Of Information................................................................38 VII. Judicial Diversity.....................................................................................40 4 Th e Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law I. executive summary On March 16, 2016, President Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to the United States Supreme Court. Th is nomination followed the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Th e question of whether Judge Garland would be considered by the Senate in a presidential election year has been the subject of much public dialogue.1 Th is report focuses on Judge Garland as a nominee, and examines his record on issues central to the Lawyers’ Committee’s mission. As Judge Garland has been on the Court of Appeals for 18 years, the analysis is based primarily on the opinions he has authored or joined as a judge on that court. A. Judge Garland’s Jurisprudence in Civil Rights Cases We believe that Judge Garland has demonstrated views that are consistent with core civil rights principles. Most of the civil rights opinions he has authored are in employment cases. He has generally found grounds to overcome motions to dismiss. Th ese suggest support for the notion that cases alleging actionable discrimination should advance at least to the discovery stage. Opinions reviewing summary judgments and trial verdicts are mixed, with some favoring employees and some favoring employers. In other categories of civil rights cases – housing, voting, education and environmental justice – Judge Garland does not have as many written opinions. But those he has written are consistent with his opinions in employment cases. He supports the claims to the extent they are actionable under the relevant statute and binding precedent. We also note that safeguarding access to the courts is a key element of respect for civil rights. Th ere is no hint in Judge Garland’s written opinions of any interest on his part in creating judicial policy regarding discrimination beyond that established by clear precedent, apart from the indication that, in unsettled questions regarding statutory interpretation, he may be guided by a statute’s remedial purpose and other indications of legislative history and intent. As with all nominees, we believe that Judge Garland’s civil rights record is an area appropriate for evaluation during Senate hearings. 1 Th e Senate Republican leadership has reaffi rmed its intention not to consider the nomination. Other Senators, however, and approximately two-thirds of voters polled, favor a hearing for Judge Garland. 1 Th e Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law B. Jurisprudence on Criminal Justice With respect to the criminal justice issues currently in center focus for the Lawyers’ Committee – racial disparities in arrest, conviction and sentencing rates, clemency for nonviolent off enders, barriers to reentry, right to counsel, debtors’ prisons, etc. – Judge Garland has not written any opinions directly on point. With respect to the scores of opinions he has written in criminal appeals, however, he appears to lean toward an understanding of the cases from the perspective of the prosecutor. Th is is perhaps not surprising given the decade Judge Garland spent as a federal prosecutor. In any event, Judge Garland, in voting to affi rm criminal convictions about which questions were raised, has found many prosecutorial and judicial errors to have been “harmless.” He has also rejected claims of ineff ective assistance of counsel where he has found strong evidence of guilt, on the basis that even eff ective counsel could not have achieved an acquittal. Similarly, in cases reviewing departures up or down from mandatory sentencing guidelines, Judge Garland’s opinions show rigorous attention to what the statute does or does not permit to be considered, and very little to the equities of the individual defendant’s situation. His opinions tend not to create or expand any law or precedent favoring prosecutors as much as they fi nd a way to affi rm convictions on narrow grounds. Of particular concern for some progressives has been Judge Garland’s positions on appeals from detainees at Guantanamo. On the fi rst panel to hear such an appeal, Judge Garland joined a majority opinion holding that the District Court lacked jurisdiction to issue writs of habeas corpus to aliens detained outside the United States. Th at position was later reversed by the United States Supreme Court. Judge Garland has also ruled for the government in other Guantanamo cases, although in one opinion he found that the government had failed adequately to establish that a detainee was an enemy combatant. Related to the category of criminal justice, however, Judge Garland has shown appropriate sensitivity in prison condition cases to plaintiff s who appeared to have meritorious claims. 2 Th e Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law C. Other Considerations 1. Experience and Education After college (summa) and law school (magna) at Harvard, Judge Garland clerked- for Judge Henry Friendly and then Justice William Brennan. He then spent a year as an assistant to Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti, who said that Garland had a “resume that makes you cry.”2 His subsequent years as an associate and then a partner at Arnold & Porter, as a federal prosecutor in extremely high profi le cases and as a very well respected federal appellate judge for almost two decades also shape the experience he would likely bear as a jurist on the Court. 2. Judicial Philosophy and Style Th e hallmark of Judge Garland’s approach to resolving statutory claims is absolute fi delity to the intent of the statutory text, as