Merrick Garland

Merrick Garland

Merrick Brian Garland is an American lawyer and jurist. He serves as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. President Barack Obama nominated Garland to serve as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in March 2016 to fill the vacancy created by the death of Antonin Scalia. The Senate Republican majority refused to hold a hearing or vote on this nomination made during the last year of Obama’s presidency.

About Merrick Garland in brief

Summary Merrick GarlandMerrick Brian Garland is an American lawyer and jurist. He serves as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. President Barack Obama nominated Garland to serve as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in March 2016 to fill the vacancy created by the death of Antonin Scalia. The Senate Republican majority refused to hold a hearing or vote on this nomination made during the last year of Obama’s presidency. The seat for which Garland was nominated was eventually filled by Neil Gorsuch, appointed by President Donald Trump. President-elect Joe Biden has selected Garland to be nominated as the U.S. Attorney General in the upcoming Biden administration. Garland played a leading role in the investigation and prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombers. His grandparents left the Pale of Settlement within the Russian Empire in the early 20th century, fleeing antisemitic pogroms and seeking a better life for their children in the US. He was raised in Conservative Judaism and attended Harvard College on a scholarship, graduating as valedictorian with an A. B. degree summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in social studies in 1974. He then attended Harvard Law School, graduating with a J. D. magna cum laute in 1977. He practiced corporate litigation at Arnold & Porter and worked as a federal prosecutor in the United United States Department of Justice. After the Carter administration ended in 1981, Garland joined the law firm Arnold Porter & Porter.

He would write in both the D. C. Circuit and Supreme Court, winning the case in both Clandland v. Assn. of State Automobile Insurance Co. and State Farm Mutual Insurance Co v. State Farm. He has served on that court since 1997. He is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two children. He and his wife have a son and a daughter, both of whom live in the Chicago area. The couple have a daughter and a son-in-law who lives in Washington, D.C. and has a daughter who lives with her husband in New York City. They have two sons, a boy and a girl, who live with their mother and step-father in New Jersey. The family has three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The Garland’s have two great-great-grandchildren and one step-grandson. They also have a step-son and a great- granddaughter who live in New England and New York. They are married and have two step-great grandchildren who also live in Chicago. Garland has a son who is a lawyer and a grandson who is also a lawyer. He also has a stepson who works for a private law firm. He had a daughter with his ex-wife, Jamie Gorelick, who is now a partner at the firm. Garland is married and has two children with whom he has one son, Alex Garland. He previously served as a law clerk for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. of the US Supreme Court.