Free Republic

The way things look now, Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court is never going to get a hearing in the Senate. It’s probably just as well. True, Republicans owe Garland — and the country — the courtesy of consideration rather than summary rejection. By all lights, he is a decent human being and a brilliant legal mind. But that does not make him an optimal choice for the high court, despite his reputation as a moderate. No — make that because of his reputation as a moderate. Everybody and his sister has been pinning the word “moderate” on Garland....

WASHINGTON (WLS) -- Illinois Senator Mark Kirk met with Supreme Court justice nominee Merrick Garland Tuesday. Garland, a Lincolnwood native and Niles West High School graduate, has spoke of his roots in the Chicago area in a White House YouTube video.

A years-long process by California teachers to free themselves of the yoke of mandatory dues fees even when the teachers refused to join the unions came up one justice short at the Supreme Court. That justice, of course, was the late Antonin Scalia, who would have almost certainly chosen to affirm the First Amendment and property rights of the plaintiffs. Instead, a 4-4 split at the Supreme Court on Friedrichs v California Teachers Association has the impact of affirming the lower court ruling that kept the requirement to make those payments in place: BREAKING: Supreme Court "divided equally" in...

If there is one thing that is bipartisan in Washington, it is brazen hypocrisy. Currently there is much indignation being expressed by Democrats because the Republican-controlled Senate refuses to hold confirmation hearings on President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The Democrats complain, and the media echo their complaint, that it is the Senate's duty to provide "advice and consent" on the President's appointment of various federal officials. Therefore, according to this claim, the Senate is neglecting its Constitutional duty by refusing even to hold hearings to determine...

There are plenty of plausible reasons why Republicans might eventually fold in the standoff over the Supreme Court: Overwhelming public opinion, a Democratic pressure campaign, and vulnerable GOP senators trying to save their jobs, to name a few. But there's another even more persuasive reason they won't: The wrath of the right wing. Story Continued Below . . The activist right has been galvanized by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's quick and forceful insistence that the Senate will not take up a high court nominee for the rest of Barack Obama's presidency, spending millions already to defend the GOP position with...

Conservatives are focusing on the nomination of Merrick B. Garland as a fight for Second Amendment rights, but it is much more than that. Seating Garland (or any other liberal) on the bench will be a great triumph for the liberal faction. That one liberal justice will be the last vampire needed to suck the blood out of our constitutional government. To understand my claim, we must first define the liberal process: it is the subjective interpretation and enforcement of law—instead of honoring law as it is written. To a liberal, the actual intent of written law matters only when...

News of Antonin Scalia’s death left me shocked and sad. For nearly three decades, he had been a fixture on our nation’s highest court, holding tight to the founding fathers’ constitutional vision and fending off encroachments on our freedom, whether they came from plaintiffs or his fellow, more liberal justices. He will be missed. His passing leaves a gaping hole in a Supreme Court that has caused quite the tiff over the past month. The media (social and otherwise) has been the battlefield, with one side defending the president’s prerogative to appoint a replacement immediately (including his own VP who...

An effort by liberal groups to pressure Republicans to allow Senate consideration of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee got off to a modest start Monday as small groups of demonstraters rallied outside lawmakers’ offices around the country. A bigger election-year battle ramped up as both sides brought their viewpoints to television, social media and supporters’ email inboxes. Five days after Obama tabbed federal appeals court Judge Merrick Garland for the vacant seat, about 25 people appeared outside the Columbus, Ohio, office of GOP Sen. Rob Portman, who is backing Republican leaders’ insistence on awaiting the pick of whoever is...

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich walked back from comments he made during an interview on "Meet The Press," saying that that if he becomes president, he would not consider Merrick Garland, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, as a potential replacement for the late Justice Antonin Scalia. In a pre-taped interview on Saturday, NBC's Chuck Todd asked Kasich about whether the Senate should hold hearings on Obama's pick. Kasich noted that while he doesn't think Obama should have named a replacement in the first place, he stated that members of the Senate should show...

From Live Action News: Obama nominee Garland sided against Priests for Life in contraception mandate caseAs Americans attempt to discern the views of Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack ObamaÂ’s nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, the Washington PostÂ’s Julie Zauzmer has identified a past case in which he sided against Priests for Life.In May, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals voted 6-3 to deny the group an en banc hearing by the whole court in its case against the Obama AdministrationÂ’s contraception mandate, which had the result of preserving an earlier ruling in favor of the...

Judge Merrick Garland, Barack Obama's choice to be the next justice on the Supreme Court, ruled against Priests for Life in a case involving the HHS mandate. He also gave ObamaCare subsidies a second chance at life in a separate case. The two rulings give a window into the philosophy of Judge Garland, whom the National Organization for Women referred to as a “cipher” with little paper trail on issues related to abortion or other feminist concerns. ObamaCare's HHS mandate opt-out does not violate the Constitution Priests for Life sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over...

President Barack Obama's nominee to fill the vacancy on the United States Supreme Court once joined an opinion that rejected an evangelical Christian defense based on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia was recently tapped by President Obama as a nominee to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. In a case decided in June 2001, Judge Garland joined an opinion authored by fellow appellate judge A. Raymond Randolph that rejected a RFRA argument for a pair of evangelical Christians who wanted to...

The Planned Parenthood abortion business is pulling out all the stops today to lobby the Senate to hold a vote on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. After President Barack Obama’s nomination of liberal appeals court judge Merrick Garland to replace pro-life Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, the nation’s biggest abortion business is on board. Planned Parenthood’s actions come at the same time as the abortion company’s CEO was spotted heading into the West Wing of the White House, presumably to meet with Obama or his top lieutenants over its support for Garland. Now, Planned Parenthood...

Leading pro-life groups have quickly responded to President Barack Obama’s nomination of liberal appeals court judge Merrick Garland to replace pro-life Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court following Scalia’s passing. Garland, a federal appeals judge in Washington, D.C., is said to likely be another reliably liberal and pro-abortion judge on the Supreme Court is the Senate decided to vote on him and confirms him. Top pro-life groups told LifeNews.com that nothing has changed since Scalia’s passing in terms of their opposition to a vote on any Obama Supreme Court nominee. They say anyone Obama nominates for the Supreme Court...

They say one of the best evaluations of a person, especially in politics, is to know their mentors and understand who inspires him. When it comes to President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, one of his inspirations is the author of Roe v. Wade, the high court case that ushered in an era of 58 million abortions. According to a New York Times report, Garland’s inspiration is clear: Justice Harry Blackmun. As the former legal counsel to the Mayo Clinic, Blackmun appeared to have fell victim of the fallacy that thousands of women died from botched illegal abortions...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will nominate federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, congressional sources said Wednesday. The pick sets up a confrontation with Republicans who say they will refuse to consider his nomination in an election year. Garland, 63, is the chief judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a court whose influence over federal policy and national security matters has made it a proving ground for potential Supreme Court justices. He would replace conservative, Justice Antonin Scalia, who died unexpectedly last month, leaving behind a bitter...

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has been targeted and assaulted by vicious and hateful attacks from the Democrats and their flying monkeys.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story stated President Obama will appoint Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. That is incorrect. President Obama will nominate Garland for the position. According to a report in POLITICO, President Obama will nominate Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court as a replacement for late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last month. Obama will make the announcement from the Rose Garden at 11 a.m. eastern.  Merrick Garland was on short list for SCOTUS twice before. Highly-regarded judge and prosecutor, who's won bipartisan plaudits.— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) March 16, 2016 In an email announcement sent...

Senate Democrats are trying to turn the GOP’s refusal to move on the Supreme Court vacancy into the latest episode of the “war on women.” Led by some of their most senior female members, Senate Democrats will take to the floor Tuesday to launch a new messaging offensive that ties the battle over replacing Justice Antonin Scalia to a GOP-led hearing on late-term abortions scheduled to occur later Tuesday. The new tactic, led by Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the sole woman in Democratic leadership, is an attempt to galvanize women in the Supreme Court vacancy fight, particularly as the high...

Garland is no fan of the D.C. vs. Heller decision: Justice Scalia's death made gun control the most important single issue of the 2016 election “No one wants to take your guns away.” That’s been the Obama administration claim since day one. Of course, it was an outright lie. These people would love nothing more than to do away with the 2nd Amendment - and, with the death of Antonin Scalia, they finally have their chance. According to the AP, sometime this afternoon Barack Obama will nominate appeals court judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. He’ll present Garland as...