slate - "Seat Merrick! Trumps nominee shouldnt get a hearing until Merrick Garland is seated

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/01/dear_congress_don_t_seat_donald_trump_s_nominee_until_merrick_garland_is.html


by Dawn Johnsen

As President Donald Trump’s nominee for the vacant Supreme Court seat receives public scrutiny in the coming days, it’s incumbent for us all to remember one thing: This seat was not Trump’s to fill.

In fact, the U.S. Senate should refuse to confirm anyone President Trump nominates to the Supreme Court—until Trump renominates and the Senate confirms Judge Merrick Garland. On Monday, Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon said he would be leading a Senate filibuster of any Trump nominee until Garland is seated. This is the only correct approach.

To recap: The Senate failed to fulfill its constitutional responsibility with its unprecedented refusal even to consider President Obama’s nomination of Garland. Obama made the nomination with about a year left in his presidency, but from day one the Republican Senate leadership insisted that it would permanently block the nomination.

No one ever questioned Garland’s qualifications—an impossibility for this brilliant, dedicated public servant. The obstruction constituted an insulting challenge to Obama’s legitimacy, accompanied by calls for the people to decide via the election of the next president.

snip - much more to read.

I completely agree - was thinking about this today while listening to The World on NPR