Clinton Says She May Not Choose Garland for Supreme Court

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she wouldn’t be bound by President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, hinting that she would consider a bolder choice if she takes office in January with the seat still unfilled.
Clinton would "look broadly and widely for people who represent the diversity of our country" if she has the opportunity to make "any" Supreme Court nominations, she said in a radio interview that aired Thursday on the Tom Joyner Morning Show.
The comments are Clinton’s most specific yet on how she would handle the 7-month-old vacancy. Her remarks offer hope to progressives who say the Supreme Court nomination should go to a younger, more liberal jurist and possibly to a racial minority or woman. Garland turns 64 in November, is white and is widely considered an ideological moderate.
Clinton said she wouldn’t ask Obama to withdraw Garland’s nomination after Election Day, leaving open the possibility he could be confirmed with her implicit blessing in a congressional lame-duck session.
"I think we should stick with one president at a time," Clinton said. "I’m going to let this president serve out his term with distinction and make the decisions that he thinks are right for the country."


http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-09-15/hillary-clinton-hints-she-may-not-renominate-garland-for-court

ZVUGKTUBM wrote:I wonder if this will make Mitch McConnell move on Obama's pick?

He better move fast.

Clinton Refuses to Commit to Merrick Garland as Her Supreme Court Pick

Hillary Clinton appeared to suggest Thursday that she would consider dropping the stalled Supreme Court candidacy of Merrick Garland if she becomes president, leaving open the possibility of a younger and more liberal pick.

The Democratic nominee was asked by journalist Roland Martin during a radio appearance on the “Tom Joyner Morning Show” if she would ask President Barack Obama to withdraw Garland’s nomination if she wins in November.

In response to Martin’s inquiry, which concluded with a question about whether she would instead pick an African-American woman, Clinton said, "I’m going to let this president serve out his term with distinction and make the decisions that he thinks are right."

Clinton described Senate Republicans’ refusal to hold hearings on Garland’s nomination – for the stated reason of allowing input from the public this November – as “a disgrace.”


But she continued: “If I have the opportunity to make any Supreme Court appointments I’m going to look broadly and widely for people who represent the diversity of our country, who bring some common-sense, real-world experience.”

Media outlets interpreted this as a possible hint, with Bloomberg describing the comment as “Clinton’s most specific yet on how she would handle the 7-month-old vacancy.”

After Justice Antonin Scalia’s sudden death in February, Obama selected Garland, 63, as a moderate option who might have a shot at replacing the conservative jurist. Republican senators took a gamble and said they wanted to wait for the results of the next election.

Garland is chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and would become the fourth sitting Jewish justice. He would not add to the court’s racial diversity, however, and earned a lukewarm reception from progressives.

Garland “rarely votes in favor of criminal defendants' appeals,” SCOTUSBlog co-founder Tom Goldstein wrote in 2010, assessing that he also has “strong views favoring deference to agency decisionmakers” and that in a dozen contentious votes, “he sided with the agency every time.“

Among Garland’s controversial rulings are his 2013 opinion for a three-judge panel exempting White House visitor logs from mandatory public disclosure and a 1997 opinion for a panel that upheld the legality of a warrantless trunk search based on evidence of personal drug use.

In contrast to Clinton's coyness, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in July offered a list of 11 people he would consider nominating to the Supreme Court if he becomes president.

A Clinton campaign spokeswoman did not immediately respond for a request for clarification on Clinton’s stance on renominating Garland.


http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-09-15/hillary-clinton-refuses-to-commit-to-merrick-garland-as-her-supreme-court-pick