The Senate Judiciary Committee will kick off confirmation hearings today for Merrick Garland, the former federal prosecutor and long-serving federal judge tapped by President Joe Biden to serve as the next U.S. attorney general.
In an open letter to the nominee, Cynthia W. Roseberry of the American Civil Liberties Union urges Garland to use his hearings as an opportunity "To make clear, on-the-record commitments" to various criminal justice reform efforts, such as vowing to "Reduce mass incarceration," "Unwind the War on Drugs, starting with marijuana," and hold "Police departments and officers accountable for misconduct."
Garland's judicial record suggests that he might not always satisfy the high hopes of criminal justice reform advocates.
In Terry v. Ohio, the U.S. Supreme Court held that police officers must have a "Particularized suspicion" of criminal wrongdoing before conducting that sort of investigatory stop.
As Judge Judith Rogers complained in her dissent from Garland's judgment, "There was no evidence that the police had any grounds to think the occupants of the black car, which was lawfully parked in a residential lot, were guilty of a traffic violation or engaged in any criminal activity.So far as the government's evidence indicated, the occupants of the black car were innocent, uninvolved bystanders and nothing more."
During his long stint on the D.C. Circuit, Garland tended to tip the scales in favor of law enforcement in these sorts of disputes, practicing a style of judicial deference that gave police and prosecutors the benefit of the doubt.
Time will tell if Attorney General Garland will follow suit.
https://reason.com/2021/02/22/merrick-garlands-worrying-record-on-criminal-justice-reform/
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