Several Valley observers took issue Wednesday with Senate Republicans’ determination to block consideration of Judge Merrick B. Garland, President Barack Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court.
“Merrick Garland is well qualified to be on the United States Supreme Court,” said Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College. “There’s no doubt about that.
“I think this is a brilliant choice because what Obama has done is to take and find a judge’s judge, someone who is well regarded on all sides of the political spectrum, and really said to the Republicans in the Senate, ‘The ball is in your court,’” Sarat said.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., responded to Obama’s appointment of Garland in a statement Wednesday.
“For decades, Chief Judge Merrick Garland has served his country with distinction — as a federal prosecutor, a senior official at the Department of Justice, and a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals,” Warren said. “Along the way, he has won praise from Democratic and Republican senators, liberals and conservatives — even the Bush-appointed chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.”
John P. Pucci, of Northampton, a partner at Bulkley Richardson law firm in Springfield, agreed that Garland is a moderate choice.
“Without huge political overlay, he’s a natural,” Pucci said. “His record is clear for achievement, his record is clear for moderation, and his record is clear for courage.
“He has a heart and soul and those things matter,” he added, speaking of Garland’s work in the Oklahoma City bombing. As a federal prosecutor, Garland supervised the prosecutions in the Oklahoma City bombing and Unabomber cases.
Pucci, who in February was appointed to a committee screening candidates for the state Supreme Judical Court, said it is the job of Senate Republicans to consider Garland.
“The idea that they won’t consider him is like not showing up for your job,” he said. “In the real world, if you don’t show up to your job, you get fired. They should be living in the real world.”
But Luke Ryan, an attorney and partner at Sasson Turnbull Ryan & Hoose in Northampton, said he does not expect a positive outcome for Garland.
“I just don’t think anything short of Antonin Scalia resurrecting from the dead would be an acceptable choice,” Ryan said, speaking of the Senate Republicans’ opposition. “I think they feel like they’ve lost their guy on the court and they’re not going to be satisfied with a Democratic president making a point of any kind.”
Sarah Crosby can be reached at scrosby@gazettenet.com.