The Next Justice On Supreme Court?

Merrick B. Garland - Judge, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Washington D.C.:
BACKGROUND: Garland was born in Chicago in 1952. Then-President Bill Clinton nominated him in 1997 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. A Harvard law graduate, Garland clerked for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan in 1978-79 before entering government service as a special assistant U.S. attorney general. Garland left the Justice Department in 1981 and worked in private practice in Washington until 1993. He took a three-year break during that time to work as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. He was promoted to deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's criminal division in 1993 and in 1994 became principal associate deputy U.S. attorney general, a position he held until his court nomination.

PROS: Respected by conservative and liberal experts following his management of the investigation of the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building and subsequent prosecution of bomber Timothy McVeigh. Moderate legal positions would not likely lead to filibuster threats from Republican senators.

CONS: Moderate legal positions would not excite hard-core liberals as congressional elections come up this year. Was not a finalist in the White House's last search for a Supreme Court nominee, which produced Justice Sonia Sotomayor. President Barack Obama may want to put another woman or minority on the court, instead.