The American Bar Association says Merrick Garland, President Obama’s nominee to be the next Supreme Court justice, is “well qualified” for that post and deserving of the highest rating possible from the group’s federal committee.
“The Standing Committee unanimously concluded that Judge Garland merits our highest rating and is ‘Well Qualified’ for appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States,” Karol Corbin Walker, chair of the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, said in a Tuesday statement.
The Standing Committee of 15 lawyers from throughout the country evaluates the professional qualifications of any federal court nominee put forth by a president. At the end of each evaluation, the committee rates the nominee either “qualified” or “not qualified.”
In reviewing Garland, the committee reviewed his legal writings and conducted interviews with a slew of Garland’s peers nationwide. According to Walker, the completed evaluation of Garland is “based solely on its comprehensive, nonpartisan, non-ideological peer review of the nominee’s integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament.”
Garland “is a preeminent member of the legal profession with outstanding legal ability and exceptional breadth of experience. He meets the highest standards of integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament,” the evaluation said.
White House Counsel Neil Eggleston hailed the ABA “one of the largest and most respected nonpartisan legal organizations in the country,” adding that it “joins a multitude of distinguished voices from across the political spectrum” who have approved of Garland.
Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, was nominated by President Obama in March to fill the vacancy left by the late Antonin Scalia. Senate Republican leadership has since refused to hold a hearing on Garland’s nomination, and has said the next president should choose a nominee.
By continuing to not hold a hearing on Garland’s nomination, the Senate has “abdicated its responsibility under the U.S. Constitution,” Eggleston said in a statement.
